50/50

( 4 )

Overview

Written by Will Reiser who based the film on his own experiences fighting cancer, Jonathan Levine's poignant comedy 50/50 stars Joseph Gordonn-Levitt as Adam, a 27-year old public radio employee who discovers he has cancer. As his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) tries to help out, his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) proves to be a less than ideal life partner for this particular crisis. All the while, Adam's overprotective mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) tries to overcome her son's continued attempts to ...
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More About This Product

Overview

Written by Will Reiser who based the film on his own experiences fighting cancer, Jonathan Levine's poignant comedy 50/50 stars Joseph Gordonn-Levitt as Adam, a 27-year old public radio employee who discovers he has cancer. As his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) tries to help out, his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) proves to be a less than ideal life partner for this particular crisis. All the while, Adam's overprotective mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) tries to overcome her son's continued attempts to keep her out of his life. As Adam begins to discover how hard it is to deal with his situation, and to maintain various relationships in his life, he begins seeing a young counselor (Anna Kendrick) who might prove to be just as helpful personally as she is professionally. Matt Frewer and Philip Baker Hall co-star as Adam's fellow chemotherapy patients.
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Special Features

Audio commentary with Seth Rogen, director Jonathan Levine, and writer Will Reiser; Deleted scenes; The story of 50/50; Life inspires art ; Seek and destroy
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert
The majority of actors who have a television hit early on fail to parlay that success into a substantial film career once the show leaves the air. Sure, there are exceptions -- Bruce Willis and Johnny Depp come to mind -- but few actors have worked as hard to redefine their public perceptions as Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He shed his image as the youngest member of 3rd Rock From the Sun by consistently working with interesting writers and directors -- Spike Lee, Gregg Araki, Rian Johnson, Christopher Nolan -- and fearlessly tackling challenging roles in films as diverse as Hesher and 500 Days of Summer. With director Jonathan Levine's poignant and funny 50/50, Gordon-Levitt should finally get the awards buzz he richly deserves. He plays Adam, a 27-year-old public-radio employee who discovers he has cancer. As his best friend Kyle Seth Rogen tries to help him cope, his girlfriend Rachael Bryce Dallas Howard proves to be a less-than-ideal life partner for this particular crisis. All the while, Adam's overprotective mother Diane Anjelica Huston tries to overcome her son's continued attempts to keep her out of his life. As Adam begins to discover how hard it is to deal with his situation, and to maintain the various relationships in his life, he begins seeing a young counselor Anna Kendrick, who might prove to be just as helpful personally as professionally. Gordon-Levitt does something few actors ever manage in 50/50 -- he makes a nice, normal guy fascinating. By all accounts, Adam is a perfectly decent human being, aside from some mommy issues and a penchant for falling for questionable women. While his medical situation is dramatic, it's something millions of others have had to face. It's a vivid portrayal of a young man who slowly faces his own mortality, and as Adam's stoic facade slowly erodes, he lashes out at his friends, his family, and himself, leading to a powerhouse scene with his mother just before he's wheeled into surgery. Yet even during the most-powerful moment in the entire movie -- the kind of scene that gets shown during the listing of the nominees on awards shows -- Gordon-Levitt doesn't overplay it at all. In every scene, he earns our empathy. As great as he is, he doesn't do it all by himself. Will Reiser's emotionally rich script -- which is based on his own battle with cancer -- never hits a wrong note, and he finds the comedy in Adam's life as easily as the drama. There are a couple of lovely scenes with Matt Frewer and Philip Baker Hall as a pair of older patients with whom Adam shares chemotherapy sessions, and Rogen modulates his overpowering charisma just enough to let us know that all his motormouthed energy is his character's own way of dealing with his friend's troubles. Thirty years ago, Terms of Endearment pretty much defined how to do this kind of tonally challenging movie, presenting characters able to laugh through their tears while dealing with a life-threatening illness. By borrowing that template without slavishly copying it, and thanks to a pitch-perfect lead performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50 deserves to be compared with that Oscar-winning classic.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 1/24/2012
  • UPC: 025192108518
  • Original Release: 2011

    • Rating:

  • Source: Summit Entertainment
  • Region Code: A
  • Presentation: Wide Screen
  • Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
  • Language: English
  • Time: 1:40:00
  • Format: Blu-ray

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Adam
Seth Rogen Kyle
Anna Kendrick Katherine
Bryce Dallas Howard Rachael
Anjelica Huston Diane
Serge Houde Richard
Andrew Airlie Dr. Ross
Matt Frewer Mitch
Philip Baker Hall Alan
Donna Yamamoto Dr. Walderson
Sugar Lyn Beard Susan
Yee Jee Tso Dr. Lee
Sarah Smyth Jenny
Peter Kelamis Phil
Jessica Parker Kennedy Jackie
Daniel Bacon Dr. Phillips
P. Lynn Johnson Bernie
Laura Bertram Claire
Matty Finochio Ted
Luisa d'Oliveira Agabelle Loogenburgen
Veena Sood Nurse Stewart
Jason Vaisvila Cute Guy With Dreads
Brent Sheppard Minister
Marie Avgeropoulos Allison
Adrian McMorran Bartender
Stephanie Belding Friendly Nurse
Andrea Brooks Attractive Woman #2
Ryan W. Smith Joe
Karen Van Blankenstin Nurse Scott
William "Bigsleeps" Stewart George
Bonnie Bollivar Elderly Female Chemo Patient
Beatrice Ilg Pretty Girl
Chilton Crane Mother On The Bus
Amitai Marmorstein Young Person On The Bus
Lauren Miller Bodie
Will Reiser Greg
Richard C. Burton Thom the Patient
Neil Corbett Hospital Tech
Karolina Sabat Art Gallery Patron
Christopher De Schuster Art Gallery Patron
Susan McLellan Bar Girl
Marlow the Wonderdog Himself
Technical Credits
Jonathan Levine Director
Zene Baker Editor
Jim Black Musical Direction/Supervision
Shane Connelly Sound Mixer
Ross Dempster Art Director
David Dowling Production Manager
Michael Giacchino Score Composer
Evan Goldberg Producer
Carla Hetland Costumes/Costume Designer
Gabe Hilfer Musical Direction/Supervision
Nathan Kahane Executive Producer
Ben Karlin Producer
Kelli Konop Co-producer
Kyle Hunter Associate Producer
Francine Maisler Casting
Tendo Nagenda Co-producer
Nicole Brown Co-producer
Will Reiser Executive Producer, Screenwriter
Seth Rogen Producer
Ariel Shaffir Associate Producer
Annie Spitz Production Designer
Terry Stacey Cinematographer
James Weaver Associate Producer
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 4 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(4)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

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Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted July 22, 2012

    I originally went to see this movie just because of Joseph Gordo

    I originally went to see this movie just because of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Besides him, I didn't think it had a lot going for it (I was expecting another Funny People). However, by the end, I completely loved it. The characters and plot are so well written, and the acting brings them to life in a highly realistic way. The movie accomplishes what Funny People couldn't: it manages to combine a modern day sense of humor with a horrible diagnosis of cancer and create a realistic portrayal of how someone in the prime of their life would react to dealing with cancer. Equal parts funny and emotional, this movie is definitely a must see.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted December 15, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    The Help
    Knocked Up

    Surprisingly Really Good!

    Admitedly, I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this movie...I figured there would be a little heart to it, but with Seth Rogen in it I figured it would probably be fairly crass...and it sorta was to a certain extent, but not overly so. In the end what my wife discovered is that it also head a lot of heartwarming humor in it, a lot of it was very touching and made you think about life & it's value, and there was some quality and convincing acting in it...even on Seth Rogen's part, though he does have his silly goofy moments like any movie, but everyone was great in this movie! If you like comedy but also good drama...or a good comedrama as it were...then I highly recommend giving this movie a watch. No, scratch that...just go out & buy it when it releases! It would be a definite worth while purchase.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 29, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 16, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews