50/50 was a quick, easy add to my Netflix queue. I was very excited about the movie, though for some reason I couldn’t make it to the theatres. I finally just got a chance to watch it the other day and needless to say it was great.
What does it feel like when you play life safely and terrible things happen to you? That’s what 50/50 helps you experience. Wonderfully acted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the lead character with Seth Rogen, Anna Kendricks, Bryce Dallas Howard and Angelica Houston supporting. We follow the story of young 28 year old Adam from the time he is diagnosed with a rare cancer, watching him deal with the realization that he has a 50% chance of death, through chemotherapy all the way through serious surgery to try and save his life.
Emotions run deep as he faces his mortality. At first he’s in denial and as he comes to terms with his prognosis he becomes angrier and angrier with life until it reaches a boiling point that comes with a huge outburst of rage. He’s supported by his best friend Kyle who’s been using Adam’s disease as a way to cope with life himself. He’s also the comedic relief of the movie (not surprising since he’s played by Seth Rogen). Adam also works out a complicated relationship with his mother (Angelica Houston) as he learns to let her care for him as an adult.
He has a girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) who can’t quite deal with the burden of his disease and she turns to infidelity. Adam is thankfully able to deal with this and what else comes with his disease with the help of his therapist, Katherine, played wonderfully by Anna Kendricks. I think she’s amazing and it’s been that way since her great performance in Up in the Air. She’s so much better than those Twilight movies make her out to be. Katherine is a new therapist and Adam is her third patient. They end up growing together.
His journey through chemotherapy was also very well done. You could just feel everything he goes through scene by scene. I felt sick when he felt sick. You just empathized with him when he shaved his head. As he grew attached to his chemo buddies we grew attached to them. It was just a way for us to deal with life along with Adam. We got to learned a very important lesson about mortality. That one day you can be alive and the next you’re not. I think that’s true in so many cases. You don’t have to be sick to understand that. I think it means we have to not live life on the sidelines, take chances have fun and love every minute of it.
Thankfully in the end of this movie Adam survives a serious surgery to remove his tumor. He ended up finding the potential for happiness with Katherine and his prognosis was good. Unfortunately cancer is a very serious disease which not everyone survives. So feel good watching the end of this movie and think about how you live life day-by-day.
I give it a great review and I’m glad I watched it. You should watch it too.
