50/50

How do you make cancer funny? How do you make any sort of terminal disease or disorder funny. I think that humor can be found in almost anything, and this film certainly tested that out. Inspired by a real story this film examines a persons struggles as they learn they have cancer and how they deal with it.

Adam plays things safe, he stays in perfect shape, he doesn't drive (to dangerous) he won't even cross the street until the little light tells him he can. So when he doesn't feel well, and goes to the doctor he is shocked to find out he has cancer. Over the course of the rest of the film it deals with all the stages of acceptance; anger, denial, etc. Of course though that is not enough, so a relationship dysfunction is added with the girl friend, and the parents. Road blocks are tossed in the way of the narrative to keep things interesting, and to make the story less about the cancer and more about Adam as a person, and not about the cancer inside him. He needs to change, because even before the cancer he wasn't really living.

I thought that the writing was strong, but much more so after the first 20 minutes. The beginning feels disjointed and hurried. Trying to get the characters introduced and developed and then introduce the cancer is difficult, it just felt like there were holes towards the beginning, and perhaps they didn't get past the cutting room floor. (I don't know what the deleted scenes were because Netflix DVD's wont let me watch that, super lame) At the end of the day though I do need to applaud the hard task of making cancer funny, and I laughed plenty in this, but more important to me, they didn't gloss over the devastating reality of what a situation like that can be like. I certainly welled up with some tears towards the end, the acting on all accounts seemed real, it felt authentic.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt puts in a strong performance as Adam, keeping the story grounded, and with his face reminding us that life is sad. When he looks sad, the whole world looks sad. Seth Rogen plays his cards much closer to the chest in this role. There is a lot less absurdity in his role, and a lot more reflection. I'm not going to go as far as to say that Seth Rogen is a good actor, I find him funny, but does he act well? Meh. This showed me that I think he could take on a more serious role and get away with it. Anna Kendrick as Katherine, the therapist is adorable. She seems to be type cast though as someone who is very smart, but naive. I don't know if that's good for her or bad. Other performances that made the film were Anjelica Huston, who only has a few scenes but makes her mark, and Bryce Dallas Howard who is so easy to hate in this movie.

It was shot in the same vein as a Judd Apatow production. The lighting and cinematography were strong, so it feels like a drama, there is no flat lighting, no dumbing down of the visuals to make it more palatable.

Overall it was a strong film, it had a few problems with making the writing feel complete, but a minor complaint in an otherwise very well made, and well told story. A good movie to watch if you're healthy, if you're sick, might hit a little to close to home. 8/10 stars.

Director: Jonathan Levine

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Serge Houde, Philip Baker Hall

One Day

I had stopped writing for a while on this blog. I had lost interest combined with bad luck with watching movies. I had gotten a long stream of shitty movies that I didn't care about writing a review for. I watched "One Day" this morning, and it was just what I needed to make me feel like doing this again.

I enjoy being pleasantly surprised by a film, I also like it when a film absolutely destroys me, and that is exactly what this film did. Dexter and Emma are graduating from College, drunk and feeling in the mood they head back to Emma's flat. They don't sleep together but instead become friends. The film checks in with them on July 15th of each year as they grow closer together and then apart.

This is not a love story, this is a story about mistakes and the definitive nature of life. Things are not now, or will ever be perfect. Dexter is a mess, it's part of his personality, he puts his stock in the wrong things in life and can't bring himself to face up to the realities that surround him, bitter as they may be. Emma on the other hand is reserved, a slow burner, she has her thoughts and feelings all in a line, but she keeps them so down, so hidden it's hard to get a clear read on her. Only later in their relationship through the years do we find out just how much she has cared for him. She makes her mistakes, but the blame of their intersecting lives seems to fall squarely on Dexter's shoulders.

Anne Hathaway is wonderful in this, she has been America's new darling for the last few years, taking roles that are both mainstays in the industry, as well as gambles such as this. She makes you fall in love with her from the first moments. Her life story speaks to many people who don't have things handed to them, who end up in bad jobs, bad relationships, and feel stuck. Jim Sturgess plays a type of character I've seen him play before, and I don't mean that in a negative way. he was a good choice for the role, because it's writing that suits him.

The writing is what makes this story come alive, they are characters that are easy to like, easy to root for. Even as they mess up, you are on their side. Perhaps it's also that Emma and Dexter are common, you can see yourself in them, as well as in the lives they lead. This is a story that is not extraordinary, it's the story of two people who want to be with one another.

The Cinematography is beautiful, moments of quiet and stillness cut together with the fast pace of real life. This is very much a slice of life film. I loved and hated this film. I loved it for all the beautiful moments, all the little details of how two people speak to one another when they love each other. I loved it for it's honesty, which is also why I hated to watch it. It made me cry, and not silent tears, I was very upset. I embrace emotion of all kinds, even that of sadness, but this made me very upset, because it's something that happens everyday, and to everyone. This film is the beautiful sadness that is life. Other films recently have done this, and done it well; "The Tree of Life", "Melancholia" and "Happily Ever After" are good examples, but this film, for me, outdid them.

This was a fantastic film, it truly spoke to me. it made me sad, it made me angry, in the wrong hands could certainly make someone very depressed. I would recommend this film to anyone who doesn't mind being challenged, who doesn't want to watch the next Michael Bay movie. This is what I want to see more of in American Cinema. 8/10 stars.

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Ken Stott, Patricia Clarkson, Rafe Spall

Director: Lone Scherfig