Matt’s Review: ‘50/50’ — An Example of How a Film Should Be Made

GRADE: A

The buzz surrounding this film has been nothing but positive — this made 50/50 one of my most anticipated of 2011. Joesph Gordon-Levitt is one of my favorite young actors, and with roles like this, it isn’t hard to see why. This film is loosely based on the real life experiences of 50/50‘s writer, Will Reiser, who went through a battle with cancer. One of Reiser’s best friends, Seth Rogen went through this traumatic experience with him — so Rogen essentially played himself in the movie. With the film based on a snippet of Reiser’s own life, the emotion was real, and apparent throughout. Sometimes the emotions were light-hearted and funny; and others were dire, bleak, and miserable. The mix of conflicting emotions was perfected, and each moment felt like cinematic gold. If there is one thing you can take away from this review and my experience seeing the film, it’s that EVERYONE should get out and see 50/50 this weekend.

I’m not going to unwind the synopsis, I think the previews do plenty for the film. So I’m just going to jump into why 50/50 is one of 2011′s best films.

50/50 didn’t even feel like a comedy at times. Sure it had countless moments of hilarity, but the strength of the film came from Levitt’s character Adam struggling to navigate through his situation. Most of the time he was reserved and apparently unaffected by it all, but those walls could only hold up for so long. 50/50 didn’t feel like a Judd Apatow film either, spending the first two-thirds being funny and the last third being overly serious. The balance between comedy and drama was walked with expert precision — the film never failed to convey how the filmmakers wanted us to feel.

Rogen and Levitt were a dynamite tag team. Both brought the good and bad pieces of the friendship to the table. Rogen played Kyle, the typical outspoken, vulgar character he always plays. Some say, he’s isn’t even acting in movies, just being Rogen — and I didn’t mind it. I personally think Rogen is hilarious in movies. You would think by now I would get sick of seeing the same self-involved character all the time. 50/50 presented more of the same, but with a little more depth than usual, and some evidence of a heart buried beneath the character’s hardened wise-cracking self-serving exterior. It made me really care about Adam and Kyle’s friendship.

JGL again proves he is a versatile actor willing to do anything for a role, including shaving his head on camera a la Natalie Portman. His range was deep, striking emotional and humorous chords in the film. It was difficult to figure out what was going on in his head at times because Adam is so reserved, but that is part of his defense mechanism. He doesn’t let many in. As the film progressed, Levitt allowed the emotions to swell to the surface as the consequences of cancer overwhelm his life. Do I smell Best Actor nominations for Levitt? I hope so, because this man deserves it.

I also have to throw some love out to Anna Kendrick. She is another young starlet I adore for more than just her beautiful exterior. She is great at pulling off the young professional, the aspiring achiever, the goal-oriented type lacking common sense. She played Adam’s therapist in the film and gave Adam a needed reality check — this helped him with the relationships in his life, especially with his overprotective mother, and helped him cope with his predicament. Another thing I loved in 50/50 was the perfectly placed music that brought the images to life.

Overall, 50/50 is an example of how films should be made. My hat is off to director Jonathan Levine. The only thing that kept the film from being perfect was its replay value. Not sure if I can watch this over and over, like an Inception or Apollo 13 — it isn’t a masterpiece. Even with that being said, its worth more than one viewing, so find a date and make one of those viewings in the theater.

What Should You Do? You NEED to see this film, like, now.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery