AM I GOING TO BE OK?: a review of "50/50"

“50/50”
Screenplay Written by Will Reiser
Directed by Jonathan Levine
*** ½ (three and a half stars)

Dedicated to Matthew Meinholz

This past summer, I co-taught a class of children aged between 5-8 years old in an experience known as “Summer Adventure Camp.” An adventure it was indeed as the three month period was designed to keep all of us consistently and constantly on the move. Every week contained a larger field trip and almost every single day involved us traveling by yellow school bus and more often by the strength of our respective sets of two feet to all manner of locations including parks, swimming pools, other school in the area and so on.

On several of these occasions, we were greeted by a young man named Matthew, the athletic 17-year-old son of the school’s owners and member of his local high school football team. My young charges took to Matthew immediately, bestowing upon him an endless stream of jokes of which there were absolutely, positively no punch lines whatsoever and Matthew howled with laughter at each and every single one. As Matthew spent more time with my class, he became truly beloved by my students. Every time he appeared at some location to have the children race through an extensive obstacle course on a hot, humid day, or build sand castles with them by a local beach area, or get drenched in a summer rainfall after hiking through a preserve on a treasure hunt that he designed, their bond grew tighter and my affection for him grew as well. In fact on one occasion, one of my students in particular, a girl of considerable moxie, once expressed to me in flirtatious secrecy, “You know, Matt likes me don’t cha?” Like I said, he was beloved.

Then, on August 11th, this extremely healthy, kind, generous, funny, athletic young man, who was about to enter into his Senior Year of high school received devastating news after a doctor’s visit to address some headaches, dizziness and nausea he had been experiencing after some recent football practices. A brain tumor, the size of a golf ball was discovered and an operation ensuring the tumor’s complete removal was imperative. Matthew’s surgery lasted 12 hours and was successful as the entirety of the tumor was removed. But, his road is not complete as he is currently undergoing extensive chemotherapy treatments in Boston.

Matthew was completely on my mind as I viewed a screening of Director Jonathan Levine’s comedy-drama, “50/50,” which stars Joseph Gordon-Leavitt as Adam Lerner, a healthy 27-year-old Seattle Public Radio employee who discovers that he has developed a rare form of cancer upon his spine. Certainly, I, everyone in the theater and all of you know and understand unequivocally that life is, by its nature, an unfair experience. But, to face severe illness and mortality at such a young age feels especially unfair all the way to the point of being cruel. Levine mines this emotional state with grace, tenderness, and a surprising amount of ribald humor, which only accentuates the inherent tragedy. Levine very wisely decides to not try to overtake the title Writer/Director James L. Brooks set firmly in place with his classic family/cancer tearjerker “Terms Of Endearment” (1983). But do not allow the miniscule nature of “50/50” to deter you from seeing it for it possesses a power all of its own and it left me deeply affected.

After the discovery of the tumor, Adam begins the indescribably painful process of emotionally coming to terms with his situation and ultimate mortality. He understandably attempts to lean on the support of Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard), an artist and his increasingly distant live-in girlfriend. He shies away from Diane (Anjelica Houston), his over-protective Mother, who already has her hands full caring for Adam’s Father Richard (Serge Houde) who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. Adam is also aided by Kyle (Seth Rogen), his ramshackle and vulgar best friend who tries to uplift Adam’s spirits by announcing that his 50/50 chances of surviving his cancer are in fact, excellent odds in is favor. And of course, the randy Kyle strongly feels that Adam’s cancer would serve as an extraordinary magnet for meeting and bedding women.

As the film continues, “50/50” follows Adam through these first difficult stages and life changes as he shaves his head, endures rigorous chemotherapy treatments alongside new friends Alan (Philip Baker Hall) and Mitch (Matt Frewer), also suffering from cancer, and begins psychotherapy sessions with the inexperienced therapist in training Dr. Katherine “Katie” McKay (a completely and gorgeously beguiling Anna Kendrick).

“50/50” is a film that is less about a plot and more about presenting a passage of life as it is truly lived. The film, which is based upon the life experiences of Screenwriter Will Reiser, including his real world friendship with Seth Rogen, is a film that treats the subject matter seriously and humorously, with a tremendously open heart and a remarkable lack of self-pity and over-emotional histrionics. It decidedly the matter-of-fact as it presents how Adam simply lives his life from day to day. We witness his experiences with the literal highs of medicinal marijuana, his efforts with trying to date new women and even the difficulties that present themselves during sexual intercourse. Yet, at the film’s very best, and like Michael Rapaport’s excellent documentary “Beats Rhymes And Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest,” Jonathan Levine’s “50/50” is an ode to the bonds of family and friendship. It also serves as a truthful examination of how those very friendships, difficult to maintain even during the best of circumstances, either strengthen or wither away when confronted with a beast such as cancer.

Joseph Gordon-Leavitt continues to grow more impressive as an actor and leading man who exquisitely underplays every moment yet also makes them feel so very lived in. We are locked into his physical, psychological and existential struggle so convincingly and effortlessly just because he makes the character of Adam so relatable, approachable and understandable. His questions, frustrations, and fears are exactly our own and we cannot help but to ask ourselves how we would handle the same situation if we were to experience it for ourselves…hoping all the while that we may never have to. And this quality is exactly where the beauty of Seth Rogen and Bryce Dallas Howard’s performances enter the scene.

Seth Rogen, once again, essentially is playing the same foul mouthed, “Good Time Charlie” that he has played countless times before. Yet, what we are given this time is another shade of the same color as he is almost literally portraying himself. Again, through his actions, which seem to be more than a little self-serving, we are forced to ask ourselves what we would do if we were placed into his situation. What kind of a friend would we be to another who is facing their mortality, and painfully so? With Rogen, watch his actions instead of falling into his words and you will see a friend who is much more touchingly steadfast than he may appear to be.

In regards to Bryce Dallas Howard’s supporting performance as Rachael, I feel that I must come to her defense as it is already being dismissed as a role of villainy. I feel that undercuts the truth of “50/50” as a whole as this is not a film about heroes and villains. Rachael, while we may be angered at her choices, is presented not as a duplicitous, bitchy, raven-haired monster. I found the character and Howard’s performance of her, as one of the same honesty and understanding that permeates the entire movie. Rachael is a young woman being forced to face a situation she is just not emotionally equipped to handle and although cruelly, it is easily conceivable that she just wants to distance herself from it entirely. Bryce Dallas Howard instills in Rachael the same empathy that is deserving of every other character in the film and wisely so, for if she became a caricature, then the film as a whole would suffer considerably. “50/50” is a film about human failings as well as strength. You cannot have one without the other and I was glad to see that not every character in the film had to exist as some sort or virtuous martyr, including Adam himself.

As I sat in the theater watching the end credit scroll, an elderly gentleman passed me by and said to me, “That was a sad movie. Quite the tearjerker, wasn’t it?” he asked. I politely nodded in affirmation at him and he responded back to me with a plaintive, “Well…that’s life.” That is the beauty of “50/50” in a nutshell. It is a sad film, the very kind where any fallen tears are earned, not forcefully extracted. Simultaneously, it is a hopefully film, one that depicts how love and laughter walk hand in hand with sickness and death. “50/50” felt very real.

If I were to describe the experience of “50/50” in literary terms, I would say that it is more of a short story than a film like Writer/Director Mike Mills’ wonderful “Beginners,” which served as more of a novel. But, “50/50” is a really, really good short story. “50/50” tackles all of the huge themes of love, friendship, family, and mortality with unblinking honestly yet with a small but powerful sense of intimacy. Levine thankfully rejected any moments of forced melodrama, knowing well enough that this material contained more than enough drama inherently and again, all of the raunchy humor never felt out of place for even one moment. In fact, during some moments, I more than appreciated the release. (I especially liked the line where Adam laments that he “looks like Voldemort.”) It is a film that provides no easy answers, no facile band-aids to soften the blow of the truth. Now, as I write and think back that what I have seen, I am thinking that “50/50” is ultimately a film about bravery and what exactly does bravery mean. In regards to Adam, is bravery simply the act of existing or is it the way in which he exists? And what of the bravery within Kyle, Katie, his Mother and Rachael? Will it be enough to hold him upwards when he is just not able to do so for himself?

I cannot help but to return to my thoughts of Matthew at this time. Of course, I have heard story after story about a person’s experiences with cancer. I have known people to undergo the experience firsthand. Nearly three years ago, I witnessed the decline and passing of a close family member who had a relatively short battle with this unforgiving disease. Yet, for some reason, Matthew’s experience has rattled me unlike any other perhaps because it seemed to occur in less than a blink of an eye. One day, he appeared to be a healthy, active young man ready for a Senior Year of football, girls, college prep and all other aspects of the teenage experience and the next day, he was handed this unspeakable challenge. The unpredictable fragility of life was never more prevalent than when I first saw an image of him after his successful surgery. He was physically smaller than earlier in the summer. He wore sunglasses to assist his eyesight and to help soothe any waves of corresponding nausea. Even his speech had changed and yet, he is carrying onward. I cannot even begin to fathom just what is going on within his head but much has been stated about his bravery in local newspaper articles and television news stories about his battle and it is a bravery I just do not know if I possess for myself. But I think of him, so very often. I read his Caring Bridge updates written by his parents every time they appear in my e-mail and I have written what I would hope to be words of encouragement in return.

“50/50” is a film that places us in the shoes of someone quite possibly like Matthew. Young, active, ready to face the future of life yet not the very future life has brutally placed in front of him. We root for the character of Adam Lerner's survival just as we would root for anyone’s survival but especially for one whose life is just truly beginning.