YOUSCOREHIGH

A film that is self-proclaimed as a comedy, which has a plot that follows a young man’s story through his battle with cancer and his 50/50 chances of life and death, at first cannot help but seem to sound dangerously trivial and brash. 50/50 isn’t highly inappropriate and not incredibly offensive; it is in fact an enthralling and charming film which cleverly balances between scenes filled with ‘ladish’ humor to keep the audience laughing, contrasted with scenes surrounding the worries and terribly harsh affects of the cruel disease that are brought upon a sufferer and the people surrounding them. This is not a film that is set out to attempt to make the audience feel sorry or remorseful for any person suffering with cancer, but its script and cast’s performances will undoubtedly give you that ‘lump in your throat’ feeling, which will most probably bring tears to your eyes in the cinema, at exactly the right time. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance as Adam, the sufferer of cancer, is outstanding, and supposedly reflective of Will Reiser’s, the script writer’s, battle with cancer too. Like almost all of the main characters, his is incredibly engaging. We feel so much empathy for this man who becomes our hero, yet never really appears self-pitiful. Seth Rogen’s performance as Kyle, also supposedly, part auto-biographical - being a long time friend of Resier, is brilliant as he provides the film with the punchy and crude one liners that will successfully make you laugh. Kyle and Adam have the standard ‘bromance’ relationship seen in most of Rogen’s films, but these characters are swelling with much more heart. The chemistry on screen between Gordon-Levitt as Adam and Rogen as Kyle will remind millions of others of their own friendships, throwing curses at, and possibly smoking weed with each other, making the characters relatable. It’s the struggle with something so unpredictable as cancer and the touching, yet sometimes hilarious ways of tackling it that makes this film so much more engaging. It makes the audience attempt to think how they would deal with it if they ever unfortunately found themselves in a similar situation.         

KO