50/50

Why would I not want to see this movie? Oh ya, the whole Cancer thing can be depressing and uncomfortable, but other than that we get to see the range of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (JGL). I know he is great because he and Ryan Gosling are always jockeying for position for my favorite actor slot. Seems every time I watch one of their films they catapult to #1 for me only to drop back down to #2 when the other releases a film. 50/50 is no different. Talk about Oscar Snubs. Nobody has mentioned JGL not getting a nod for his role in one of the best reviewed films of the year. He didn't even let the likes of Seth Rogen bring him down, yet no nomination. Utter BS. I don't want to get started on this years Oscars flubs, as there are many. I guess technically I don't really have a "Say" just an opinion as I am not officially a member of that "Dirty Little Guild" - The Screen Actor's Guild that is. On to a comedy about cancer. I read that the writer of the film was the one with Cancer and he wanted to put together a film that could somewhat document the journey while at the same time show that you can still have fun...sort of. The film is funny at times, and sad, dark, and depressing as hell at other time. It is what I call a Perfect movie, because it drags almost every emotion into one place while never being convoluted. It makes the audience happy and terrified at the same time. Along with the writer's intentions for a cancer dramedy, one might ask how Seth Rogen gets cast as the not so funny comic relief? He really was that friend to this guy during his cancer ordeal and treatment process. I wish someone else had been Kyle (Rogen), but he didn't ruin the film for me. I don't mind Rogen, but I can think of a dozen other people I would have liked for that role. JGL delivers an Oscar worthy performance of a Adam,  27 year old man dealing with the lifestyle change of what Cancer brings. He has a type of cancer he cannot even pronounce, but throughout it is referred to as Cancer of the Back, Spine Cancer, and Back Cancer. We follow his relationship with Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard) through the process, but the real performance is delivered by the always Lovely Anna Kendrick. She is his therapist helping him cope with his current state and she is awesome. Kyle on the other hand seems to only be interested in exploiting his cancer as a way to pick up girls. He figures a "pity-F@#$" is better than nothing and eventually this will take its toll on the friendship. His overbearing Mother (Anjelica Huston) seems to be his biggest problem, because now she feels she has to treat him like he is 8 years old again. I will say the chemo-treatment scenes are some of the funniest in the film. That is a hard sell, but the two gentlemen he gets the honor of meeting in those treatments, which last 4 hours each time, is what really changes his life. Though they are both 40 years his senior, they all have a commonality that brings them closer together, because finally he has someone who actually does know how he feels, and not just someone who says they do. Unless you are there, there is no way you know how someone with that disease is feeling. It's just humanly impossible. Once again JGL delivers quality and shows he is an elite actor in a business full of hacks who are only there because they look good in underwear. Oh, and you do not get Back Cancer from sleeping on a bad mattress. I looked it up. 


NBM rates 50/50 - A Cinematic Work of Art