50/50

Sadly, 50/50 is another one of those Hollywood films that takes dead-serious subjects, like, in this case, cancer, and trivializes it into a series of generalities, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt having to chide Seth Rogen for using his cancer to get chicks. It's too bad that the film is usually so damn likable too, establishing some funny characters, decent pacing, and general jolliness when at its center is one big ugly spinal-cancer. In the film, Levitt's Adam is diagnosed with spinal cancer at only 27, and only has a 50% chance of surviving. He's shocked, especially due to his age. That's a problematic piece of information to begin with anyway, as if the public can only see a "serious" film about cancer if it's a 27 year-old with it. Hey, he sets off his dialogue with 'like', I can relate to him! His mother (Anjelica Huston) is distraught, his girlfriend (an icy Bryce Dallas Howard) is hands up for what to do, and his best friend (Rogen) is tastefully dismissive of the subject, attempting to cheer Adam up in any way that he can. Adam starts to see a psychiatrist (Anna Kendrick, always likable) and begins to have feelings for her. In fact, the best part of 50/50 is seeing Adam's shifting romantic allegiance, and, if the film had centered on that rather than the fact that it's so upsetting to see him with cancer, and THE REAL FACE OF CANCER, then we would have a pretty damn good movie on our hands. Instead, 50/50 places itself at the head of importance, and it's not only offensive, but poorly and weakly done. Adam cries, Adam mopes, Adam is happy, Adam is sad. This is not bold filmmaking, but easy filmmaking, boiling down seriousness to an emoticon selection bar.

★★