50/50
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard and Anjelica Huston.
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Okay first things first. The cover of the DVD case of the version of this movie that I watched, has two quotes. The first is from Graham Fuller of Vanity Fair, "a laugh-out-loud comedy." and the second is from Richard Roeper, "one of the best of the year." (Hey, the box doesn't have the first letters capitalized.) On the back cover, it states that Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls this film, "achingly hilarious and heartfelt." Now I'm not sure if perhaps they got to watch a different cut of this movie than I did, but I was crying a lot more than I was laughing. Not tearing up or getting misty-eyed or some other euphamism. I was crying, had to blow my nose, the whole bit.
I don't want to imply that this makes it a bad movie, on the contrary, I quite liked it.
I put off watching this film for a couple of days since getting it. You know how it is, you've just got to judge if you can handle something sad or depressing. Well, that was the first 50 of it. The second 50 of it was Seth Rogen. I don't dislike the guy. I thought he was hilarious in The Pineapple Express. But, that's his thing - he's that character in every movie.
Well, that first 50 was a good call on my part, because this film is a downer for great big parts of it. (See above - you know - where I said I was crying.) Ultimately I felt I was having a good enough day, so I went for it anyway. Good call on my part, both the waiting for a good day and watching this film. And I can only say that because that second bit - the 50 I assigned to Rogen, is probably like a 15 or 20. Ya, he still largely played the same character as in Zach and Miri Make a Porno, but he also had good chemistry with Gordon-Levitt. There are parts where his character is definitely concerned about his friend and I thought he did a pretty good job of doing it. Sure, he still couldn't say more than a couple of lines without profanities and his character was high a lot, but that's a lack of imagination on the writers and director. Hey, look at me! I'm actually sticking up for Seth Rogen as an actor. Go figure.
What happened (if you haven't seen the movie you should probably stop now - go on; nothing to see here):
Gordon-Levitt's Adam and Rogen's Kyle are best buds who work as producers at a radio station. Adam has an artist girlfriend, Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) who he thinks he might be ready to take it to the next level with. Pretty early in the film, Adam goes to a doctor concerned about a back ache that he's had for weeks and is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that is fairly far along. Adam tells Rachael and gives her an out - she can leave now, no harm, no foul. She tells him that she wouldn't dream of leaving him. Adam waits a few days to tell his mother, Diane (Anjelica Huston) that he has cancer - which he does by inviting her over to dinner where she clearly thinks that he's about to announce that he's asked Rachael to marry him. Adam is referred to a therapist, Katherine (Anna Kendrick) who is as new at her job as he is with dealing with cancer - he's her third patient ever.
From the very beginning, Rachael is distant at best. She drives him to his chemotherapy treatments but won't come in to the hospital because of the "bad energy". In no time at all she's dropping the ball - leaving him stranded at the hospital until late at night when she should have been there in the afternoon, etc. At a gallery event, from which Adam has stayed home because he didn't feel up to going, Kyle sees Rachael making out with another guy. Not only does he see her, but he takes pictures to show Adam. So, Adam, with support from Kyle, kicks Rachael to the curb.
What follows is a middle section of the movie where Kyle wants to use Adam's cancer to get them laid, which Adam eventually agrees to go along with. This is juxtaposed with Adam's awkward visits to Katherine.
The doctor's try everything, and the only chance that Adam has left is to have a very dangerous surgery. Before the surgery, Rachael tries to get back with Adam, pretty much stating that her other guy dumped her, but Adam is strong and tells her to fuck off (his words were, "Get the fuck off my porch".) Yay for Adam.
The surgery happens, and not only do Adam's parents and Kyle show up in the waiting room, but so does Katherine. Adam survives and the cancer is beaten. The movie ends with a first date between Adam and Katherine.
My thoughts:
This movie was predictable, but delightfully executed. If they had spent a little less time working so hard for some of the laughs and instead put that energy into the gravitas that Adam was feeling, I think the whole film would have been better for it. The scene where Adam finds out he has cancer, is amazing - his doctor is practically mumbling, showing almost zero bedside manner. Adam doesn't know what he's being told so stands up and looks out the office window, while the doctor seems not to notice because he is so focused on all the technical/medical terms. Very moving stuff.
You know from the time that you see Rachael that she is going to do Adam wrong. When you first meet Kyle, you see that he's the buffoon buddy with a heart of gold. Diane is the overbearing mother that will do anything needed if Adam will just let her in. Katherine is the novice therapist who breaks some rules with Adam and you know, even before Rachael is caught cheating that Adam will end up with Katherine.
Would I have liked this film to be less obvious from the beginning? Sure. Was the film ruined for me because of it? Not really.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a fine actor. He's come a long way from 3rd Rock from the Sun. He handles Adam in a very believable manner - he's just another guy doing the best he can with the hand dealt to him. The real testament for me is whether or not I can separate the actor from the character. Maybe it was visual in this movie, but once Adam loses his hair, I stopped thinking of him as Gordon-Levitt and thought of him as Adam.
Seth Rogen plays the rough-around-the-edges best friend. I don't know Rogen personally, but I don't imagine this character was that different from who he really is. Could I ever get past the fact it was Rogen to hink of his character just as Kyle? No.
Bryce Dallas Howard is new to me, or at least unknown. I thought of her as Rachael, whom I thought of as a bitch for how she treated Adam, but who I also thought of as a bit boring, her character seemed a bit flat. But it was one of those performances where I felt that she was giving the director exactly what he wanted - I blame him and not her.
Anna Kendrick was great as Katherine. I knew that I had seen her in other films such as Up in the Air, but she was the chacracter from the get-go. If she were famous, it might have taken longer, but it still would have happened early. She does an excellent job of walking the line of someone using book learning and someone developing a hand's on feel (pun intended) for her patients. I expect good things from ths young lady in ovies to come.
Anjelica Huston. What more can I say? I never felt like I was watching Huston - it was Diane the whole time. It is very easy to see why she is one of the best actresses of her generation.
What more can I say? This movie is all about the characters, and I didn't think anything about special effects. Which turns out to be a testament to just how good of a job they were doing, since they obviously had to make Gordon-Levitt look as if he had cancer. They were flawless in this film.
My closing thought is to make sure you have plenty of tissues and someone to watch this with.
I feel that I should give this film a letter grade, so I'll give it a B. Above average work, but not the best I had ever seen. I would definitely recommend this movie to others, with the caveats above.
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