50/50

It's difficult to say whether comedy-drama "50/50" falls more into the comedy section or the drama section. If you were to say it falls more into the drama section, you still have the numerous moments of rib-tickling social awkwardness that frequent the film's narrative; there's also the fact that it stars Seth Rogen, a noted funnyman, as the secondary protagonist. And if you were to say it falls more into the comedy section, you still have the fact that the plot revolves almost entirely around the topic of cancer, a serious issue that is, for obvious reasons, a mysterious stranger in the comedy genre.

The film sort of meanders between both genres, and does it seamlessly. It takes a difficult and hard-hitting subject matter, one that’s a typical topic in the tearjerker section, and inserts it into a comedic setting without mocking or demeaning it, keeping its seriousness entirely intact. It’s both a drama that’s handled in a comedic manner and a comedy with an incredibly serious subject matter; this means the filmmakers are treading on very thin ice, but they’re treading with elegance and ease.

The cancer patient at the centre of “50/50” is Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Inception”). He’s 27 years young, is a writer for public radio and has a loving girlfriend, Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard, “The Help”). He doesn’t drive and so relies on his best friend and co-worker, Kyle (Seth Rogen, “The Green Hornet”), to take him to work. Adam begins suffering from back pains. He goes to see a doctor. It turns out he has a rare cancerous tumour attached to his spine. The internet tells him he has a 50/50 chance of survival; as Kyle reassuringly points out, if Adam were at a casino he’d have the best odds.

So, Adam undergoes chemotherapy. He begins vomiting in the middle of the night and during the day. He becomes exhausted. His somewhat laid-back disposition begins to gradually disappear as he sinks into depression. He can no longer enjoy sex, as his back aches during the act. His girlfriend becomes tired of having to care for him and becomes interested in other men. Adam begins to face the fact that he may very well die soon and without warning. It goes without saying that these moments fit squarely into the drama section.

As for the comedy section, we have, for example, a scene in which Adam consumes marijuana given to him by fellow cancer patients Alan (Philip Baker Hall, “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”) and Mitch (Matt Freqer, “Watchmen”) and proceeds to walk through the corridors of the hospital with a permanent smile on his face. We also have a scene in which Adam shaves his head with an electric shaver that may or may not have been previously used to shave Kyle’s pubic region.

Speaking of Kyle, much of the comedy stems from him too, which is a given with talented comic actor Mr. Rogen in the role. His character is foul-mouthed and inappropriate, and is practically obsessed with sex. He uses Adam’s illness to his advantage, e.g. getting the number of a girl in a bookstore by telling her how much he is taking care of his cancerous best buddy. He also gets Adam to use his illness to his own advantage, e.g. getting Adam to pick up a chick in a bar by blurting out his condition to her; unsurprisingly, this doesn’t work.

But, and I feel I must stress this, it’s not cancer that’s the butt of the joke, so anyone wishing to send hate mail to first-time writer Will Reiser had better put down their fountain pens or stop thumping away at their computer keyboards. The cancer aspect is confronted very seriously, the film in fact very effectively showing the process that a cancer patient goes through; it shows their character deterioration, the constant worries they undergo and the harsh consequences of chemotherapy, all done with a stern face. It just displays the social effects of having cancer through humorous means, and rather commendably too; it’s frequently hilarious and doesn’t make you feel bad for laughing.

The film is also a bit of a romance. Adam becomes a little more than interested in his therapist, Katherine (Anna Kendrick, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1”). Katherine is inexperienced in her line of work, admitting to Adam that he is only her third patient. While she is meant to keep things professional, she subtly expresses feelings of affection for him, for example giving him a ride home one day. This is the kind of romance I support in movies; Adam and Katherine are both smart, kind, sweet and understanding people with a spark between them, and I’m sure they’d make a perfect couple.

Gordon-Levitt’s very likable performance makes Adam a very likable character; as such, we care for him and care about what happens to him. Of course, in the back of our minds and sometimes the front of our minds, we know that the story could possibly end in horrible tragedy for this man. This thought is worrying: this is a man we like and care for and he may very well be stone dead by the end of the story. Perhaps this is why “50/50” works so well: we care for the protagonist and are genuinely concerned about whether or not he is going to die, which is more than I can say for some movies.

I think the fact that Reiser and Rogen have both actually went through this themselves gives the film a little extra weight and respectability. Reiser had spinal cancer when in his late twenties and Rogen is a good friend of his; with this film, they’re practically re-enacting their real-life experiences, though with Gordon-Levitt now in Reiser’s position, of course. I think that’s another reason the film works so well: it’s real for its writer and one of its stars and thus has a sense of humanity to it. And if Reiser and Rogen don’t have the right to insert comedy into the film’s situation, who the hell does?

9/10