50/50

50/50
Promotional poster
Directed by	Jonathan Levine
Produced by	Evan Goldberg Ben Karlin Seth Rogen
Written by	Will Reiser
Starring	Joseph Gordon-Levitt Seth Rogen Anna Kendrick Bryce Dallas Howard Anjelica Huston
Music by	Michael Giacchino
Cinematography	Terry Stacey
Editing by	Zene Baker
Studio	Mandate Pictures
Distributed by	Summit Entertainment (USA) Lionsgate (UK)
Release date(s)	September 30, 2011 (2011-09-30)
Running time	100 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million[2]
Box office	$39,185,691 [3]

50/50^[4][5] is a 2011 comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Levine, written by Will Reiser, and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. The film is loosely inspired by Reiser's own experience with cancer.

Plot

Adam Lerner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a 27-year-old public radio journalist with an artist girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard), of whom his best friend and co-worker Kyle (Seth Rogen) disapproves.

Adam discovers he has a rare cancer in his spine and must undergo chemotherapy. He sees on the Internet that his chances of survival are 50/50. After Adam reveals his diagnosis, his overbearing mother, Diane (Anjelica Huston), who already cares for a husband suffering from dementia, wants to move in and care for him. Adam rejects this offer, however, as Rachael has promised to be the one to take care of him. However, Rachael is uncomfortable going into the hospital during Adam's chemo treatments. Later, Kyle sees Rachael kissing another man and tells Adam that Rachael is cheating on him. Adam and Rachael break up. Kyle attempts to keep Adam's spirits high, which include helping Adam shave his head prior to chemotherapy and suggesting that Adam use his illness as a way to pick up women.

Meanwhile, Adam skeptically begins going to a young and inexperienced therapist, Katherine McKay (Anna Kendrick), at the hospital. Although their relationship and sessions have a rocky start, he slowly begins to open up to her about his disease and how it is affecting him. The two develop a rapport both in and outside of their sessions, as the lines between doctor-patient and friends begins to blur. During chemo treatments, Adam also befriends Alan (Philip Baker Hall) and Mitch (Matt Frewer), two older cancer patients who are also undergoing chemotherapy.

After Mitch suddenly dies, Adam's fears become more evident upon hearing that his treatment is not working and that he needs to undertake a risky surgery as a last resort. The night before his surgery, Adam has an argument with Kyle and demands to drive Kyle's car because Kyle is drunk—even though Adam does not have a driver's license. After nearly causing an accident, Adam calls Katherine and tells her that he's tired and just wants it to be over. The next day Kyle drops Adam off at the hospital, where he undergoes his surgery. After waiting six hours, Kyle, Diane, and Katherine are told by the doctor that although the bone degradation was worse than they had thought, the tumor was successfully removed and Adam should recover.

The movie ends with Adam getting ready for a date, with Kyle encouraging him and cleaning the incision on Adam's back from the surgery. The doorbell rings and Adam lets Katherine inside as Kyle leaves. A nervous Katherine asks "Now what?", and Adam just smiles.

Cast

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam Lerner
• Seth Rogen as Kyle
• Anna Kendrick as Katherine McKay
• Bryce Dallas Howard as Rachael
• Anjelica Huston as Diane Lerner
• Serge Houde as Richard Lerner
• Andrew Airlie as Dr. Ross
• Matt Frewer as Mitch Barnett
• Philip Baker Hall as Alan Lombardo
• Donna Yamamoto as Dr. Walderson
• Sugar Lyn Beard as Susan
• Yee Jee Tso as Dr. Lee
• Sarah Smyth as Jenny
• Peter Kelamis as Phil
• Jessica Parker Kennedy as Jackie
• Daniel Bacon as Dr. Phillips
• P. Lynn Johnson as Bernie
• Laura Bertram as Claire
• Matty Finochio as Ted
• Veena Sood as Nurse Stewart

Development and production

The screenplay is loosely based on the experience of screenwriter Will Reiser, friend of the film's co-lead, Seth Rogen.^[6] Reiser is also close with Evan Goldberg of Da Ali G Show. The film was originally going to be called I'm With Cancer before it was announced that this was a working title. The film was later renamed Live With It and then 50/50.^[4]

James McAvoy was originally going to play the lead role before he left the film due to personal reasons, as he was afraid of missing the birth of his first child, and was replaced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.^[7]

Principal photography was scheduled from 22 February 2010 to 31 March 2010.^[8] The film was mostly filmed in Richmond and Vancouver, British Columbia as well as Seattle, Washington.^{[citation needed]}

The head-shaving scene in the film was featured on the movie posters and commercials. At the "50/50" premiere in New York, Gordon-Levitt said, "We only had one take because you can't shave your head twice."^[9] Rogen recalled, "It was the first day of filming, and we improvised the whole thing, which is not wise when it's something you have one take for, but it turned out funny."^[9]

Home media

50/50 was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on January 24, 2012.

Reception

The film received much acclaim from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 93% of 170 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.6 out of 10.^[10] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 72 based on 40 reviews.^[11]

Sean Burns wrote in the Philadelphia Weekly that Levine "knows how to stay out of the way long enough to let a very talented cast shine, and Rogen's fundamental, unexpected decency, which can often only be expressed through shoulder-punching obscenities, grows more quietly moving as the picture wears on."^[12]

David Schmader, writing in the Stranger, praises "50/50's stellar cast, from the omnipresent lead Joseph Gordon-Levitt (whose Rankin/Bass puppet face is put to beautifully nuanced use) to the all-star supporting cast: Anjelica Huston roars back to prominence with a twisty performance as Adam's barely contained mess of a mom, and Anna Kendrick's young doctoral student makes the film's rom-com aspirations not-ridiculous with her intelligent spontaneity and huge cute teeth. But the comedy star is Seth Rogen, cast in the same role he played in screenwriter Reiser's life."^[13]

The film was nominated for two awards at the 69th Golden Globe Awards. Levitt received a nomination for Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) and the film itself was nominated for Best Picture (Musical or Comedy).

Top Ten Lists

The film was included in the following top ten lists for the best films of 2011:

References

External links

	Film portal
	Comedy portal
	Medicine portal
	2010s portal

• Official website
• 50/50 at AllRovi
• 50/50 at Box Office Mojo
• 50/50 at the Internet Movie Database
• 50/50 at Rotten Tomatoes