50/50

[Bibby]

Saw this film on Tuesday and thought it was a beautiful film. Tender and truthful where it needed to be yet funny and entertaining so as to not leave you feeling drained from such a serious topic.

I felt it a good balance and very well acted. Even more inspiring that the film is based on the writer/directors of the film who actually went through this in real life.

Lovely uplifting and funny film - go see it.

[Octopus]

I was going to do a long review for 50/50 (that I just watched) but my fingers are frozen so I'm just gonna say this: I was disappointed by the first 10-20 minutes, it seemed not build enough, something was missing... I felt like it would have been good to know more about Adam, his 'normal' life, to understand his reaction and environment.
I felt very weird too watching the announcement scene and it took me time to get into the story...

Yet, I loved watching Adam's evolution, from the 'I don't mind, it's life' behaviour to the realization of what might happen to him. I also liked the fact the director did not focus too much on the cancer itself and the treatment, but proposed to explore Adam's detachment.
Would it be weird to say I might have prefered - well, it's not the RIGHT word but you'll see what I mean - another end for this film?
I mean, of course, he got cancer, he might die, but it's a film so we all hope/expect he's gonna live a long life... On the one hand it would have been easy to kill him, leading the message 'cancer kill people, you got no chance', but on the other hand, it's also easy to keep the good guy alive and make a happy Hollywood end. I would have liked to explore the grief side of this story or something.

It might not be the best way to express this but I guess (I HOPE) you understand (??). Haha I feel awful saying Adam should have died. Is it too dark? I swear I'm not a creepy gothic.

Anyway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is moving, and I was surprised but very pleased to see Anjelica Huston in this film.

Despite the laughs & cries: 7/10 (I must admit I easily cry, so...)

[Octopus]

Haha shoo, I feel bad about this end questioning. But well, finally I wrote my long review, and my fingers are not cold anymore.

[Beate]

Well, it's based on Will Reiser's story and he lived so I think it would have been a bit macabre to let him die in the story just to achieve "a better ending". I liked that he lived anyway, what's wrong with that? Gives you hope.

[Octopus]

There's nothing wrong with that, it would have been another way to explore cancer, that's it.
Either way the story is interesting - yes it's based on a true story and we won't change it (good for him), I just said I had other thoughts about it. It's not macabre, it's just how I felt when I watched it

[Merseymike]

A good film. I thought it interesting that some critics saw it as misogynistic because of the treatment of the girlfriend. I thought she was pretty horrible and deserved what she got - and surely the treatment of other female characters such as the therapist and his mother was far more positive?

[bonnybon]

A good film. I thought it interesting that some critics saw it as misogynistic because of the treatment of the girlfriend. I thought she was pretty horrible and deserved what she got - and surely the treatment of other female characters such as the therapist and his mother was far more positive?

For some reason I find all films with Seth Rogen in them misogynistic. It's weird because I like Seth Rogen but it does make me uncomfortable how he treats women in his movies. Even in this one where he's not the main character, he manages to rant for about 5 minutes about JGL's girlfriend. Yes, she did something wrong and I don't think she was compatible with JGL but she wasn't an evil monster and didn't deserve her kicked out the house like that and her art destroyed.

Just my opinion.

[raj101]

I actually agree with Seth on this occasion lol. I think if you are going to let it rip, then at least let it rip on someone who is intentionally horribl.