I was a bit hesitant about seeing this movie. 50/50 is a movie inspired by a true story of a young man with cancer and how he deals with it with the help of his family and friends. It is described as a “comedy” and stars Joseph Gordan-Levitt (the dumped nice guy from 500 Days of Summer) and Seth Rogan. Yes, Seth Rogan, the Pineapple Express / Freaks n Geeks stoner.
Yeah, so cancer comedy. You can see why I would be hesitant about this genre. But our trusty friends over at Rotten Tomatoes told me that it had a 93% approval rating, so I went to see it.
The conclusion?
It definitely has its funny moments, but is actually pretty heart wrenching. I’m talking Terms of Endearment meets Steel Magnolias kind of bawling my eyes. It is really well acted and I think I have a little bit of a nerd crush on Joseph G-L now. Seth Rogan plays the usual Seth Rogan character, but with a little more sensitivity than usual.
It is a movie that makes you thankful for the good things in your life and terribly sorry for the people who have to suffer with shit like cancer. All in all, it was a pretty decent movie and if you are looking to cry in public then this is a pretty good excuse to do that. 7/10
