Film: 50/50

GENRE: Drama/Comedy
RATING: R for language & sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 39 minutes
STARRING: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer, Brick)
Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Levine (The Wackness)
WRITER: Will Reiser (newcomer)
PLOT: Inspired by a true story where a 27-year old finds out he has cancer and how he and his friends and family deal with it.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 What a great film. The mix of comedy and drama reminds me of Garden State or a Jason Reitman film. The visuals are not as artistic as those other films but the message is told beautifully and makes you empathetic towards its characters.
2 Will Reiser has written a beautiful script. Taking chunks from his own cancer story, he makes the reactions and observations realistic without a sappy monologue to make us roll our eyes. The pace is perfect and nothing seems forced. And it’s nicely compact at an hour and a half. Wow.
3 Joseph Gordon-Levitt does some great work in this film. I’ve become a huge fan of this guy. Hard to imagine that he was on Third Rock from the Sun. This guy is only going get bigger.
4 Seth Rogen is amazing. (It’s weird to write that.) He is wonderful in every scene that he’s in. He does the perfect blend of comedy and concern. Since he is one of Reiser’s friends, he’s basically playing a version of himself in the film. Either way, he’s great to watch.
5 The opening shots have Gordon-Levitt running around the Stanley Park Seawall. Then he runs in the city where we see a large Space Needle cg’d into the Vancouver skyline. I like Seattle and all but why not set this film in Vancouver, where Reiser’s story originally took place? So unnecessary.

RECOMMENDATION: See in theatres (but you may cry)
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Moneyball