{"id":6353,"date":"2011-10-04T09:10:53","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T15:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=6353"},"modified":"2011-10-04T09:10:53","modified_gmt":"2011-10-04T15:10:53","slug":"movie-review-50-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=6353","title":{"rendered":"Movie review: ’50-50′"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Joseph Gordon-Levitt<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Seth Rogen\u00a0<\/strong>portray best friends in the new dramedy 50-50.<\/p>\n

Likeability of the New Dramedy\u00a0<\/strong>About Cancer are About ’50-50′<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 By Maggie Scott<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u00a0\u00a0 For a person who actually experienced the stress, shock and challenge of cancer in his twenties, Will Reiser, the screenwriter for the new dramedy, 50\/50,<\/em> had a hard time finding the pulse of a story that badly needs a transfusion of genuine, not clich\u00e9 feeling,. Also some surgical trimming of gravely ill-conceived humor.<\/p>\n

Sharing Reiser\u2019s journey from diagnosis through treatment was the actor Seth Rogen.\u00a0 The two collaborated on turning the experience into a script; and the subsequent casting of Rogen as Kyle, the best bud of Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), works, if you\u2019re looking for someone skilled at portraying frat boy humor, tinged with barely-works black humor.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to know why the story lacks inspiration.\u00a0 Reiser either had no diary or journal of the experience to refer to, or he was still too close to the experience to write objectively.\u00a0 The script doesn\u2019t seem to have the courage of its convictions-\u2014whether it\u2019s taking on the desperate feelings a cancer patient deals with, the trauma of treatment and the chaos of dealing with the medical establishment (there is no mention either of money or insurance issues) or the messy, fraught dealings with parents and significant others.<\/p>\n

Reiser\u2019s script plays it safe\u2014whether it\u2019s going for raunch or revelation.\u00a0\u00a0 At one point, a character accuses Kyle of using Adam\u2019s\u00a0illness to pick up girls; and in a way that\u2019s precisely what\u2019s wrong with the movie.\u00a0 It uses our fascination with and dread of cancer merely as an exploitative hook, without making it a solid basis for revealing truth about humans facing mortality, asking for help, and relying on friendship.<\/p>\n

Gordon-Levitt does a fine job knocking up against the narrow parameters of Reiser\u2019s portrait of Adam, whose ordinary life is turned upside-down by the news he has a malignancy with fifty\/fifty odds of survival.\u00a0 It\u2019s quickly apparent that besides Kyle\u2019s well-meaning, but oafish, attempts at support, Adam is going to have to rely on his own inner resources to get through the physical and mental ordeal.<\/p>\n

From detached doctors, disloyal girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) and distraught mother (Anjelica Huston), no one (at least as they are cavalierly portrayed) who should be Adam\u2019s first line of defense seems up to the task of being the pillar of strength he needs.\u00a0 Parents: Dad has dementia and Mom gives Adam migraines.\u00a0 Best Friend: thinks \u201cmedicinal pot\u201d and getting Adam laid are good for what ails him.\u00a0 Girlfriend: doesn\u2019t want to \u201cmix the negative (chemo) with the positive—an energy thing.\u201d\u00a0 Therapist (Anna Kendrick): her work with Adam will be part of her dissertation.<\/p>\n

The ending is too pat, the characterization of a professional counselor is laughable, and the moments of genuine emotion are few and far between in this sickly entry into an over-worked genre. A Summit Entertainment release, rated R for sexual situation, partial nudity, language, drug use.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Joseph Gordon-Levitt\u00a0and\u00a0Seth Rogen\u00a0portray best friends in the new dramedy 50-50. Likeability of the New Dramedy\u00a0About Cancer are About ’50-50′ \u00a0 By Maggie Scott \u00a0\u00a0 For a person who actually experienced the stress, shock and challenge of cancer in his twenties, Will Reiser, the screenwriter for the new dramedy, 50\/50, had a hard time finding the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nMovie review: '50-50' - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=6353\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Movie review: '50-50' - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0Joseph Gordon-Levitt\u00a0and\u00a0Seth Rogen\u00a0portray best friends in the new dramedy 50-50. 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