Pushes Your Emotions With Ease

Rating: Null/10 (6 October 2011)

I just saw 50/50 on a whim having seen one trailer (which I will talk down about in a moment) and liking Seth Rogan in pretty much anything I've seen him in. I wasn't prepared to be fighting the movie as it tried to yank tears out of my eye ducts, mostly because of the trailer.
Now granted, I kind of dismissed the trailer a bit. Again, I saw Seth Rogan doing his usual funny comments on and coming up with plans that backfire but the gist of the trailer made it seem like two desperate friends come up with a scheme to get women. My guess based on the trailer was that sooner or later, the secret would come out that no one was suffering from cancer. Yeah, thanks a lot, trailer. That's TWICE you've completely misrepresented movies in a span of a month (Drive being the other).
So to the actual movie, it centers around a young guy who seems to pride himself on being healthy, doing the right thing (we see him in the opening credits wait for a crosswalk to turn green even while someone else just crosses the street anyway because no cars are coming) due in no small part to an over concerned mother who seems to be overbearing but with good intentions. But even living healthy cannot stop the emergence of a rare cancer in his spine.
While the movie was very heartfelt (again, tear-jerking galore from the middle to the end of the movie), it was also very funny. Seth Rogan provided the goof-ball comic relief while Anna Kendrick and Levitt's interactions as first timers on both sides of the psychologist and patient relationship provide at time hilarious interactions as both deal with reality. Angelica Huston was very convincing as the too-much- concerned-with-everything mother who wants very badly to help but keeps offering it in ways Levitt doesn't want.
Overall, it was very fun in the scenes where Seth and Joseph dueling with the cancer and insincere girlfriends. One of my favorite scenes involves Seth Rogan's reaction to learning of Levitt's girlfriend's secret and how he lets him know. Very funny stuff.
If you're looking for a goof-ball comedy, don't let the trailers fool you. This is more or less on the same lines as movies like Knocked Up, but with much more emphasis on the drama side of things as cancer and death are a lot more serious issues to deal with as a human than being an unexpected parent. In all, a good rounded flick and one to watch and actually take something from when you leave the theater.
8/10