Full disclosure: this isn’t the first time The Cascade has reviewed this movie. Back when it was first released in 2011, one of our past writers described it as, “nothing but a series of contrivances and shallow behaviour that is less a tragicomic exploration of what happens to people in moments of accelerated mortality than an excuse for sexual antics with the seriousness of a cancer patient as its protagonist to fall back on, with the assumption that it validates the sophomoric ineptitude that pervades the movie.”
If you actually read all that, I applaud you. While I can’t speak to the movie’s “contrivances,” as a cancer survivor myself, I can say that 50/50’s accuracy and genuine emotion made it my top comfort film during chemotherapy.
Right off the bat, 50/50 stands out from other cancer movies with its otherwise healthy 27-year-old protagonist, Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). After being diagnosed with schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma (yes, I did check the spelling about 50 times), Adam’s relationships with his mother, girlfriend, best friend, and (for some reason) therapist are put to the test, with some bonds coming out stronger and others breaking altogether.
Ignoring some outdated tropes from the Judd Apatow era of filmmaking — Knocked Up (2007), This Is 40 (2012), Step Brothers (2008) — 50/50 is not only entertaining as both a comedy and a drama, but also true to what going through cancer treatment can look like. Much of that realism comes from writer Will Reiser loosely basing the story on his own experience as a cancer survivor. In an interview with Global News, Reiser explained that his and Seth Rogen’s — a longtime friend who also plays Kyle in 50/50 — approach to the movie came from a desire to challenge the assumptions people often have about cancer.
“Everybody thinks when you have cancer … you’re going to give a checklist of all these things you now have to do because there’s such limited time. But in reality, I just felt horrible and I just wanted to sleep and watch baseball all day.
“So we just had this idea: no one really has done … [a film] about a young person going through something like what Seth [Rogen] and I were going through, and our way of dealing with it.”
While all cancer survivors have different experiences — and I’ll admit this movie definitely takes some creative liberties — many scenes felt like they could have been taken from my own life: hearing the word “tumour” for the first time and the world suddenly slowing; the jarring transition after Adam’s first round of chemo from feeling surprisingly good to depressingly nauseous; the newfound sense of otherness in social situations — and, of course, people asking to touch his bald head.
Another element that captures what cancer treatment can feel like is 50/50’s cinematography and music. The film’s slight desaturation in certain scenes, mixed with its somehow chill yet somber soundtrack, mirrors the melancholic numbness that treatment can bring — as you almost mindlessly carry on doing what you have to do to stay alive.
As far as acting goes, Gordon-Levitt knocks it out of the park. Since a cancer diagnosis comes with a free subscription to an endless catalog of complicated emotions, his range is on full display as Adam shifts in and out of feeling numb, angry, happy, alienated, excited, and, most of all, exhausted. I’ve seen this movie countless times, and I still sob like a baby at Gordon-Levitt’s performance during an especially emotional scene with Adam’s mother (Anjelica Huston) in the third act.
As for Rogen, he (unsurprisingly) plays Seth Rogen. While I usually criticize actors who wind up just playing themselves (looking at you, Dwayne Johnson), it works in 50/50 because Rogen is essentially playing himself. His role as Adam’s best friend draws directly from his real-life experience supporting Reiser during his cancer treatment. So although I can’t speak to Rogen’s lack of range in other movies, I found his performance in 50/50 to be ultimately entertaining — his character’s dated humour aside.
15 years after its release, 50/50 stands firmly in my Letterboxd top four — despite its supposed “sophomoric ineptitude” or whatever — because of how accurately it depicts the emotions I felt during my own cancer treatment. By encouraging audiences to reconsider their assumptions about cancer, the film shows how differently people cope when it becomes part of their lives, whether directly or indirectly. 50 per cent drama and 50 per cent comedy, 50/50 remains a compelling and genuine exploration of the emotional rollercoaster that is living with cancer.
