Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Aristides

Number 1 - 50/50

50/50 is a funny movie about cancer. Good times!

When I wrote about The Descendents, I mentioned that it nicely walked the line between funny and dramatic. 50/50 does it even better.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt came close to making the top of my list before with 500 Days of Summer - it hit number 2. The two movies can sit next to each other in a DVD collection whether grouped by name or by level of awesomeness. I don't think this movie works without him. James McAvoy was originally cast as Adam, and I can't imagine it.


My biggest surprise is how much I enjoyed Seth Rogan as Kyle. He dialed back his performance and took the backseat, yet he never disappears. While 50/50 looks at Adam's relationship with his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard), it's Adam and Kyle who grow closer together in a natural way as a result of Adam's cancer. Considering that was the genesis of the script, and the role he played in real life, it works.

50/50 comes out at home later this month. I think it deserves a MUCH wider audience that it received. It came out at a bad time, and it's probably difficult to market a funny cancer movie. See it.I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I really enjoyed this movie. Not to sound cliche but i laughed and cried. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a funny way of portraying the character exactly in a way that i feel like I have met him before. Unfortunately some dip-shit at the movies pulled the fire alarm in the last 5 minutes of the movie. So i did not get to watch the final scene. I have no doubt it was a good as the rest of the movie.

Kirsti said...

This movie was excellent. It probably made the top of my list for last year as well. I'll have to add it to my list of movies to buy!