"a
laugh-out-loud comedy." "one of the best of the year."
"..consistently, uproariously funny."
Another laugh-out-loud comedy sounds about as intriguing as another best movie of the year. Oh look both of those descriptions were used to describe the film 50/50, how ironic. Even with these typical labels that about every Hollywood film receives from critics and sometimes questionable sources, 50/50 actually deserves this level of praise. Most people know it as a comedy about a guy who has cancer; the two go together seamlessly right? Well at least that's my first thought...(Sarcastic undertone=chuckles). However, this film is much more than that. I would not describe it as a comedy, even though there definitely is humor intertwined with the tragedy portrayed. Such as when told that he has spinal cancer, Adam's response is, "A tumor? Me? Uh, that doesn't make any sense, I don't smoke, I don't drink, I recycle." It's funny because recycling is completely irrelevant to Adam's health; his good character is not going to help him in this case...get it? (Chuckles: Round 2). It is a very real and heartfelt film about a young man's journey towards healing. 50/50 is based on a true story, written by the actual man who overcame spinal cancer and completed his trek to health successfully. This film really uses the concept of pathos, appeal to emotion, to its fullest advantage. The film's serious concept is demurred down with humor. This excerpt from the book Everything's an Argument explains the combination of tough situations and humor well, "Humor has always played an important role in argument, sometimes as the sugar that makes the medicine go down"(48). If 50/50 was strictly a serious film about dealing with cancer at a young age, it would not have appealed to as large of an audience as it did since it mixed comedy and tragedy, flawlessly might I add. Some scenes tug on your heart strings and strum you to tears. But, no worries, there is comic relief on the way, not as to spoil the emotional moment though. Hats off to Will Reiser, who wrote the screenplay of 50/50, he has some impeccable timing. I think this film cannot just be labeled as the best of the 2011, because there are about 365 of those, for each day of that year. (Optional: insert smirks here) 50/50 will make you laugh, cry, and pause to ponder who in the world named a disease Schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma.
“You can’t change your situation. The
only thing you can change is how you choose to deal with that”. ~50/50
