'50/50' a True Story of Comedy and Cancer

50/50 has made a near-great movie out of the hardest-to-thread, most oxymoronic genre imaginable – "cancer comedy."

The film is a triumph, because it succeeds at being both moving and hilarious.

Originally bearing the much better (but less marketable) title I'm With Cancer, 50/50 is based on the real-life experience of screenwriter Will Reiser – a friend of co-star and producer Seth Rogen. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the Reiser role as a 27-year-old man suddenly diagnosed with a potentially deadly spinal cancer, while Rogen is his best friend.

The film was shot in Seattle and directed by Jonathan Levine, who previously made the highly underrated 2008 picture The Wackness.

Rogen may be the producer and biggest name, but this movie belongs to Gordon-Levitt, who gives a masterfully subtle performance that is very much deserving of award attention. True, illness roles are often Oscar bait, but Gordon-Levitt plays it quiet, very often concealing more than he's revealing. He's really evolved from sitcom child actor into a surprisingly strong leading man.

The film's other best element is the script by Reiser, a first-time feature screenwriter whose IMDB page is taken up mostly with producer credits on TV comedy specials. The screenplay goes back and forth between witty, very funny banter and serious life-and-death talk. But the tonal shifts are never too jarring, and the laughs feel earned.

The cast is also strong from top to bottom. Rogen plays the usual Seth Rogen character, an overgrown manchild forced by events to, if not grow up, at least see the need to do so. It's a welcome return to form for Rogen, who's been on a bit of a losing streak of late (the less said about his , the better.)

Bryce Dallas Howard is Gordon-Levitt's girlfriend, not quite as loathsome as her character in but at least in the same ballpark.

Anna Kendrick plays Gordon-Levitt's therapist-turned-potential-love-interest, a fact somehow complicated by her looking like she's about 17 years old (and still playing a high school student in each year's Twilight sequel.) Kendrick, though, is always welcome, and it's strange that she's worked so little since her Oscar-nominated turn in Up In the Air.

Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer have a couple of great scenes as wisecracking chemo patients, while Anjelica Huston is absolutely heartbreaking as Gordon-Levitt's mother.

50/50 could have gone wrong in any number of ways – it could have come across as cloying or as a Disease of the Week movie, and the tone could have been all over the place. But thanks to standout performances and a just-right script and direction, it successfully threads the needle.

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The Silver Screen Rating: 4.5 star (out of 5)

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Roll Credits: 50/50

Directed by: Jonathan Levine

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Philip Baker Hall, Matt Frewer.

Rated: R

Length: 1 hour 39 minutes

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Appearing at:

Regal Warrington Crossing 22 – Click for showtimes.