50/50 (4 Stars - 4 Stars)

            The title implies that the main character, Adam (Gordon-Levitt) has a 50% chance of dying from the cancer he's diagnosed with. That means the movie will go either way where he's either going to live or die. However, the movie never focuses on the fact on whether he lives or not. I could care less on which ending they would use. 50/50 is a comedy that uplifts itself from its comedic backdrop and turns it into a heartbreaking drama about friendship and family.

            So far, this movie is possibly the best movie that uses cancer as its main topic, and because cancer is a serious topic, someone decided to use it as an opportunity to put it into a comedy. However, the jokes used in this movie are not so much foul or in bad taste as it would if a horrible raunchy comedy writer/director worked on it. Like the witty humor in Juno, this movie aims to reach for that same goal by using cancer and turning it into a witty comedy with witty dialogue. The fact of the matter is, if I can laugh at something that’s serious and frowned upon if laughed at, then the movie has done its dutiful job.

            The movie starts with a relatively young and healthy individual who complained of simple back pains. After the reports from the doctor, Adam is diagnosed with spinal cancer and looks it up to find that the Chemotherapy has 50% chance of success. However, when he tells his friend, his girlfriend, and his family, their lives start to change.

            Cancer is more of a calling of life before it ends. It's an ailment that cries out "seize the day" where patients will get to finally do what they want to do. This movie tells a bigger truth about cancer, and it shows from the writer, Will Reiser, who survived his encounter and passes his experience on to this movie. In this movie, we see depression, anguish, a huge sense of denial, a great deal of internal pain that's impossible to release until the day of the operation. Because of this, I respect this movie and shun away most other movies that uses cancer as a clichéd plot device or to all of a sudden, create sympathy towards a character.

            During his Chemotherapy, he sits next to two old cancer patients, Alan and Mitch, who are surprised at Adam's young age. They call it waste that he's got a whole life ahead of him and that it could be cut short at any moment. The conversations that they have are not usually not cancer or death related. Instead, they mostly talk about pot. Because this is somewhat labeled as a slacker comedy, the movie has to add pot into the equation.

            More importantly, Adam learns about what it truly feels to live life like it's about to end any moment. He learns to be more in touch with his mother, he takes care of his dog named Skeletor, even though he hated him at first, and he finally does what he truly wanted with his girlfriend and her painting. He learns about true friendship even if Kyle can be annoying at times.

            The last moments of the movie were a true pleasure to watch for I nearly cried when we see everything leading up to whether Adam lives or not. We all want him to live, but it's 50/50. We can't choose on whether it's a boy or a girl. All we can do is waiting, like all of the characters.

            There are some fun moments where Kyle does try to persuade Adam to use his cancer to pick up chicks, to which Adam replies, “I look like Voldemort.” They even threw in a Patrick Swayze joke in there even though it felt too soon.

            This movie seems to have the star cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes a strong performance with the dilemma he's given Anna Kendrick as the amateur doctor gives the movie a warm feel as she tries to connect with Adam with just a single physical connection through touching Adam. Adam's mother, played by Anjelica Huston, does a great job as a loving overly concerned mother. However, I give my kudos to Seth Rogen as Adam's best friend. Although at times he'll act like the normal Seth Rogen we've seen in all of his other comedies, Seth's performance shows that there is more to him than just comedy. There is something in this movie that shows that he's not just a type cast.

            This movie is possibly the best movie about cancer, trumping that of Terms of Endearment. It’s a movie that handled its material with delicate care, making this possibly one of the funniest and saddest movie of the year. I’ve read in an article that happiness has a combating chance of prolonging one’s death from cancer, as if it was psychosomatic. After all, smile is the best medicine.