Seth Rogen in a different role

Rating: 9/10 (2 November 2017)

If you've paid attention to cinema for the past decade, you'll probably recognize Seth Rogen as the guy who wants to spend eternity smoking pot with his friends while they discuss bodily functions. But he gets a different role in Jonathan Levine's "50/50". He plays the friend of a cancer-stricken radio journalist (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The movie manages to balance comedy and drama, as the friends have their usual fun while the neurofibrosarcoma-stricken Adam gets ready for chemotherapy. In the process, we meet Adam's overprotective mother, her Alzheimer's-afflicted husband, and some other people. Probably the most interesting character in the movie is Anna Kendrick's therapist-in-training. New to her job, she does what she has to.
So, this is a movie that shows that even these guys who mostly star in silly movies can be versatile. Which is not to subtract from the performances of Kendrick, Anjelica Huston, Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer. A fine piece of work.