Joseph Gordon-Levitt Is Good Like Usual

Rating: 6/10 (26 December 2011)

This will be a 3-part review.
1. As a "Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie-lover" I'm glad to say that this time Joseph Gordon-Levitt has done it again. 50/50 is successful mostly due to his stunning portrait of a young man diagnosed with cancer. Upsettingly, it seems to stop there. His strong performance aside, the rest of the cast does not offer many surprises.
2. The story does not try to be "big" or have the kind of intention to cater for a very wide array of audience groups. Nevertheless, it is still successful. The script is nicely written depicting the start to finish of a man's physical and psychological battle with a rare case of cancer. 50/50 feels like a nice little independent film and is presented throughout with that spirit.
3. If it were earlier in the year, I might say this can score a few Oscar nods. However, at the current stage almost close to the end of the race, I can only say the only possible category in which 50/50 can get a nomination is probably Best Original Screenplay, and it is not even very safe. While the Best Adapted Screenplay this year seems to have solid locks like Hugo, Descendants, Moneyball, we are still not very sure whether the Academy will nominate Young Adult or Bridesmaids over 50/50 beside the locks like Artist and Midnight in Paris. I'd be happy to see this get recognized, but with the Academy nowadays, I guess you never know. We'll just wait and see.