Lame

Rating: 6/10 (1 October 2011)

I looked forward to 50/50. I enjoy JGL's acting and thought I'd get a kick out of seeing him play a young guy who learns he has a very serious form of cancer that might take his life. One reviewer suggested that the film would remind you how every day is a gift. Being unemployed with bills, I needed that kind of reminder.
I'm still depressed. I didn't think this movie was funny, insightful, touching, or distinctive. A young guy finds out he might die from cancer, his shallow girlfriend can't hang, but his buddy does and keeps his outlook positive by encouraging him to use his cancer to get laid. In most films, I can get lost in the story and film as a whole world. In 50/50, however, I always got the sense that these were actors running scenes and they were all strung together to voila! Make a movie. The relationships between characters were for the most part cliché--the annoying mother, the shallow girlfriend, the inhuman doctor, the loyal buddy. And, if I were facing death, I would probably request an experienced doctor and not allow to be a guinea pig for a 24-year-old trainee.
But I gave this film 6 out of 10 because the last 20 minutes were indeed quite heartfelt. If I were you, I'd wait until this comes to red box near you.