“50/50,” a modern-day meditation of an innocent’s tribulations with a deadly disease, shows sometimes it just takes a good pal to keep your mind off the negativity and focus on the funny.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Alex, a 27-year-old young man who is diagnosed with a devastating terminal illness.
Gordon-Levitt is best known for roles in “Inception” and “500 Days of Summer,” an impressive resume for such a young talent.
Anna Kendrick co-stars as Dr. McCay, an apprentice psychologist who helps Alex come to terms with his condition, better known for her co-starring role in the hit film “Up in the Air,” alongside actor George Clooney.
Bryce Dallas Howard, who has been in “Spider Man 3” and is also the daughter of well-known actor and director Ron Howard, plays Alex’s live-in girlfriend Rachel who commits to taking care of her sickly beloved.
Last, Alex’s mom is played by Anjelica Huston, best known for her role in the indie hit, “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
The list of talent in this film is pretty extensive, but unfortunately the cast is more impressive than the movie itself.
“50/50” starts relatively slowly and doesn’t really get going until the more sentimental scenes towards the end, which deals with the age old quandary: Will Alex make it?
Seth Rogen co-stars as his best friend with a shtick that seems way too familiar.
What amounts to Rogen’s depiction of a best friend is robbed by a lack of the “wittiness” that usually defines him, which has also built the reputation he now enjoys so effortlessly.
It doesn’t seem that his character was carefully crafted. This led to him telling jokes that didn’t hit hard enough and also seemed noticeably similar to a previous character he played in the film, “Superbad.”
One of the things the film did get right was its high quality production.
The cinematography was well done and fairly inspiring. The scenic city of Seattle, Washington served as an appropriate backdrop for the drama and characters in it.
The screenplay is based on the real-life events of author Will Reiser was diagnosed with cancer at age 25.
After having come into contact with the essential quantities of humanity, this film provides, it is almost impossible for somebody to leave the theater not feeling a little closer to themselves or those around them.
“50/50” does try to create emotion and it has a unique concept, but in the end, it seems like merely another well-done Hollywood movie moving no further forward than the absolute necessary inspiration required setting it apart.        Rogen, as the film’s main draw, is allegedly hilarious, but all we get on-screen is his errant conversational discharge incapable of bolstering what comes to be a fairly straightforward contemplation on our mortality, if it even achieves that.