Slyly Comic and Ultimately Poignant Take on the Dreaded "Cancer" Film

Rating: 8/10 (26 October 2011)

Believe it or not, I wanted to see this movie based on just one line I heard in the trailer. Anna Kendrick's openly naïve therapist character says it to Adam Lerner, the cancer-stricken, 27-year-old protagonist played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt - "You can't change your situation. The only thing you can change is how you deal with the situation." It's a predictable bromide but one that spoke to me at that very moment since I just got laid off from my job the day prior. Facing life's unexpected twists is what this 2011 dramedy is about, and director Jonathan Levine and screenwriter Will Reiser find a poignant, funny and off-kilter way of handling a standard Lifetime TV-movie subject without losing respect for the characters. The film tows a fine line dramatically, but perhaps because Reiser has first-hand knowledge of spinal cancer from his own personal experience, the story doesn't lose its footing.
The film focuses on Adam, a Seattle-based NPR staffer whose comfortable life is turned upside down when he learns he has malignant tumors along his spine. With little empathy, the oncologist tells him he has a 50/50 chance of survival. Buoyed by his boisterous best friend Kyle, Adam tries to remain optimistic despite his overbearing mother Diane, who wants to move in with him right away despite acting as a caretaker for his father, an Alzheimer's victim. Remaining disturbingly distant is Adam's artist girlfriend Rachael who promises to stand by him and nurse him back to health. However, as he goes through his chemotherapy, her commitment to him unravels. The movie addresses the bitter irony of how those one would expect support Adam without condition are the ones who are the most likely to fail. At the same time, he grows closer to two fellow cancer patients, as well as Katherine, the awkward young therapist who utters the line that rings so true for Adam.
The acting is effective without excess. As a last-minute replacement for James McAvoy ("X-Men: First Class"), Gordon-Levitt gives a nice, self-effacing performance as Adam that feels right for the passivity needed for the role. Playing a version of his real self since he is Reiser's best buddy and the one who encouraged him to write the script, Seth Rogen provides manic, shaggy-dog energy to Kyle as a direct counterpoint to Adam and then surprises by deepening his character as the story progresses. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Rachael as a more subtle version of the malevolent character she played in "The Help", but she may be in danger of stereotyping herself in like-minded roles. Kendrick also plays a variation of a previous role as the ambitious careerist in "Up in the Air", but she does a better job of transcending her character's youthful exuberance this time. Easily stealing her few scenes, Anjelica Huston brings back her much-missed ferocity to Diane. Unlike most, this is a most worthwhile "cancer" movie.