50/50 (Quick Review)

50/50 PosterRating: ★★★★½

50/50” is an optimistic movie that breathes out hope, a movie whose frail heart is comforted by its funny bone. It achieves the emotional balance that an inferior movie like “The Bucket List” failed to find. It tells the story of 27-year-old Adam Learner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a calm and quiet man who is battling a kind of cancer that’s unknown to many. He is stunned by his diagnosis, but much of the devastation comes from the fact that the deadly disease has struck him this early in his life.

I was moved by the film’s sense of hope and impressed by its treatment of the topic. “50/50” can be considered both as a Tragedy and Comedy, but it treats cancer as the killer that it is, and not as a stimulant of tears or as a punchline for jokes. Joseph Gordon-Levitt leads the cast with a warm and restrained performance as Adam, but the one that surprised me here was Seth Rogen.

By definition, the man cannot be classified as an “actor”; Seth Rogen always plays Seth Rogen, and none other. But his role as Adam’s best friend was a touch of destiny. After seeing the film, I learned that the screenwriter, Will Reiser, survived cancer in his 20’s alongside the support of his close friend, Seth Rogen. Not only does this piece of fact explain Rogen’s effectiveness, but it also gives us an idea where the movie got its humorous yet realistic attitude towards cancer.

There is a subtle sentiment in the silent pain that scar these characters, but what ultimately makes “50/50” the most emotionally affecting film of 2011 is its justified observation at the reality of death, which is something we will have to face sooner or later- preferably later.

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50/50 (Quick Review)