Chix Chat on Film review: Young man receives a cancer diagnosis.

Rating: Null/10 (3 October 2011)

Shame on me for expecting a story based on actual events and cancer to be a comedy. After all the film did feature Seth Rogen (Kyle) prominently, he is without a doubt a comedic presence, and he did provide the comic relief for this film. But the film itself was no comedy as was represented by the trailer. I am not a big fan of dramas and no fan at all of cancer, but this film was done very nicely with its handling of the somber subject matter. Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) plays an affable young man who just like most everyone else on the planet is going about living his life, has parents with his mother Diane (Angelica Houston)dealing with age related issues, a best friend from childhood Kyle and a steady girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) when he finds out that he has cancer. I have to say that I agreed inaudibly with every mean spirited derogatory word that Kyle used audibly to describe Rachael. Everything said was exactly how she was portrayed so convincingly and the remarkable thing was that she did not seem to realize what a total bee-otch she was. Who gives a person that is potentially dying and needs to be cared for a dog that seems like it is potentially dying and needs to be cared for? Again this film is based on a true story so I think that Rachael wins the prize for Worst Girlfriend Ever! I digress. It turns out that the type of cancer that Adam has comes with a fifty-fifty chance of him surviving. He actually appears to handle the whole situation fairly well, he begins to follow the prescribed treatment plan and encounters others who are dealing with their own illness. Part of the treatment to aid him in dealing with his diagnosis includes sessions with a therapist. The most interesting dynamic was between Adam and Katherine (Anna Kendrick) as she works on developing a therapist-patient relationship we learn as much about her as a person as we have about Adam. The thing that made this film enjoyable was the fact that it was not just about cancer it was a buddy tale. Would that everyone could have a really good friend like Kyle to be there in one of the toughest times of their life, still when the story began to wind down I found myself asking 'what happens next?', which in part is the reason for the amber light.