50/50 | ★★★★★★★★

Ann and I watched this heartwarming flick last week. I think that it is an amazing treatment of a difficult topic but struggle to find the words to describe it. So I was glad to find a great review of it on Netflix. Here is a clip from it.

50/50 is a wonderfully honest look at early adult illness that, while funny, never strays from the truth of the subject matter. The film is written by a man named Will Reiser who based the movie off his own experiences with being cancer stricken in his 20's. This is a no frill look at the realities of the illness without trying to tug at anybody's heart strings. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is wonderful as a man who is angered and in disbelief about his cancer diagnosis and whose friends respond the only way they know how to at such an early age- with humor, marijuana and attempt to help him get lots of pity sex. Seth Rogen represents those friends and while he's still his standard Seth Rogen self, the film does a wonderful job of adapting Rogen's style to the most serious subject matter and letting his larger than life gregariousness take a back seat to Levitt's inner turmoil as he deals with a girlfriend (Bryce Roberts) who isn't prepared to take care of a sick spouse, a Hospital assigned social worker who is brand new in her job (Anna Kendrick in a performance that is sadly nearly identical to her role from 'Up in the Air') and an overbearing mother (Anjelica Huston) who won't leave him alone despite Levitt's desire to manage things on his own. Apart from the comedy, which is spot on and not distasteful, much of the medical jargon and Hospital scenes are scarily accurate, which makes sense given that the writer recently went through the events depicted in the film.

Be advised that the language is 'R' rated and there is a risque scene. On a scale of ten I give it ★★★★★★★★.

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