50/50: Can laughter be the best cure?

So I have taken the opportunity to relish in the little free time that I have to catch up with the blog, and, most importantly, combat the titanic list of films I need to see, which continues to grow each and every day! So yesterday, full of cold and wrapped up in bed I thought 50/50 would cure me of my woes. *sarcasm*

I expect a lot of people, at least in the UK, to be wondering what the hell 50/50 is – do not fear, you are not the victim of a lone-film-fan cult, whose aim is to vanquish all film fans so that he/she can become the “only gay in the village” of film. Not at all. Surprisingly the film, although featuring popular actors; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogan, Anjelica Huston and Anna Kendrick, failed in its British PR. I saw all of 3 adverts for this film, now considering I spend much of my waking life in cinemas, in arts venues and now, thanks to Netflix, sat on my sofa – that is substantially low! The fact that this film was released a little over a month before Christmas, MAY have had slight negative impacts: with the success of Arthur Christmas and Cancer, traditionally, not being a festive topic, it was due to have PR limitations.

The film follows a stereotypical modern American 20-something - Adam (Gordon-Levitt); he is physically fit, (demonstrated by the opening running scene), he doesn’t smoke (demonstrated by his rejection of an offer of a cigarette) and he recycles (highlighted during a medical consultation - which also enabled him to reiterate the two above personal qualities). After long periods of back pain, he visits his doctor only to discover that he has a rare genetic spinal tumour and, upon further investigation, one that carries a 50/50 survival rate. We then witness the aftermath, watching Adam tell his aesthetically-sympathetic girlfriend, comical best-friend and parents (which includes a dramatic mother and a father plagued by Alzheimer). The reaction of his best friend Kyle, is awkwardly funny, as he reassures Adam by referencing celebrities who have beaten cancer; which sadly included the late Patrick Swayze. As expected, the film maintains the plight of a traditional love/ tragedy story structure: boy loves girl; girl does the dirty on boy; boy, unsuccessfully, seeks relief in casual sex; boy discovers new girl, old girl recognises the error of her ways; boy rejects old girl and seeks relationship with new girl!

Though I dislike the conventional structure that the film retains, I applaud the way they manipulate this structure to discuss the complexity of illness and disease; in other words I hate the love story but I love the way they use cancer as a catalyst. Though the film centralises around his disease, it acts as a foundation for the exploration of relationships, love and the individual during times of trauma and hardship, and how they subsequently triumph and fail.

This film also demonstrated a very rare quality. It is one, of very few films, that I can say with my hand on my heart; the casting was superlative! I have not one negative word to say about any member of this cast, on the contrary, I find myself detracted from the story and instead discussing these acting accomplishments! Maybe it is due to the rarity of the these events, that I have found myself rambling about Gordon-Levitt’s triumph in portraying a complex character, with such poise and wealth, and Rogan’s success is maintaining the perfect level of comedy without allowing it to cross into the realms of “Superbad” meets “Philadelphia”. I enjoyed this film not just because of the careful handling of a common yet controversial subject and the wonderful casting but also because I wasn’t forced into laughing, the comedy of the film was actually quite intermittent. I advise you to watch this film as a drama, as you will find yourself laughing at its few comedic treats rather than being let down because, surprising, the film about cancer wasn’t as funny as you expected.