Tuesday 10 April 2012

ONE TO WATCH: 50/50 (DVD)



“Aw, man, not another Seth Rogan comedy about cancer. When 27 year old Adam (Gordon-Levitt) gets a devastating diagnosis, he navigates the road to recovery with the sometimes overbearing support of his best friend (Rogen), who only wants to use the situation to sleep with more women, his smothering mother (Angelica Huston), who has enough on her plate looking after her husband diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and inexperienced therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick), whose two previous clients can’t be discussed.

Inspired by a true story - loosely based on writer Will Reiser's own experience with cancer - 50/50 ditches the schmaltz for the most part and delivers a laugh-out-loud comedy with the ability to reduce you to tears when it needs to. Strong performances help, and Rogan has never been better, helped by a maturity rarely seen. Gordon-Levitt is a brilliant lead, while Kendrick is perfectly cast, and is fast becoming one of my favourite female leads, if only because she seems like perfect marriage material. The music here adds an extra dimension and really pulls at the heartstrings, so when they also throw in a Greyhound called Skeletor you know you’re on to a good thing – heartbreakingly funny.” DW

 

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