One in a million

Rating: Null/10 (13 November 2011)

This movie is a drama/comedy (a dramady if you will) about a 27 year old man, named Adam, battling cancer. On the surface, I expected something similar to "Funny People"; funny moments here and there, a lot of forced jokes and drama, and a relatively thin storyline. That is not at all the case for "50/50". I have seen dramadies attempted before and the only other movie that successfully balanced the comedy and drama while having them reflect off each other was "Little Miss Sunshine". This movie makes us laugh because it is not afraid to point out the irony of cancer while also giving us healthy doses of the pain that Adam is going through. No scene is unnecessary or overdone in this movie, Will Reiser went through almost everything we see in this movie and even before I read that in the trivia section, I felt that from every angle. The directing was very organized especially when Adam finds out that he has cancer; after the doctor says "Cancer" everything goes blurry for Adam because that is all he hears and right away, the audience knows that all he is thinking about is the life he might not get to lead. The pacing is detailed and very precise at when to slow down or place emphasis on a character or situation. Lastly, the acting was phenomenal, especially from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He does a sensational job in this film with displaying how alone and scared his character is in this situation without overdoing either side. The most powerful part is the night before Adam goes into his surgery and he is having a nervous breakdown in the car. When he calls his therapist and lists all the things he hasn't done yet, that was when I started crying (which is a rarity for me). This was a very well put together cast and a very well put together movie. If it doesn't get an Oscar (especially for Joseph Gordon-Levitt), then the Oscars have no taste!