Movie Review: 50/50

It takes a pair to beat the odds.

Inspired by true events, 50/50 is dramatic comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogan and Anna Kendrick.

Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon Levitt) is supposed to be in the prime of his life. At 27, he’s got a steady job, a steady girlfriend and a steady stream of laughs from his say-whatever-he-thinks best friend, Kyle (Seth Rogan). But the annoyance of a growing back pain sends him to the doctor for a check-up, and suddenly he’s faced with a diagnosis: spinal cancer. And the odds of survival: 50/50.

The news sends him on a journey he never imagined for his life: chemo, “magic” macaroons, pre-mature baldness, grief counselling AND dealing with his friends’ and family’s reaction to the news–on top of his own feelings about facing the odds.

While his world gets turned upside-down, Adam starts to realize that having one friend beside him, the whole way–however obnoxious and crude–just might be enough to make it bearable. But will it be enough to beat the odds?

Here’s the run down:

Humour: With an all-star cast of some of young Hollywood’s finest, 50/50 will have you laughing the whole way through…

Drama:…when you’re not crying. Sketchy girlfriends, a broken family relationship, complicated friendships and a growing connection between one therapist and her patient (watch out for Anna Kendrick’s stunning performance as the in-experienced Doogey Howser-type), there is plenty of tension in the air.

Friendship: Most of the movie will have you cringing at Kyle’s attempts to cheer up his fatally-illl best friend, but their heart of gold friendship creates a perfect balance of comedy and drama, and is what makes this movie a 10.