50/50 (2011)

Not expecting much from a movie can be really gratifying sometimes. I saw the preview for "50/50" once and I didn't even remember it until the day I wanted to go to the movies and decided to check it out. First things first: so a movie with Seth Rogen is supposed to be a comedy right? But how can they make a comedy out of a subject like cancer? Believe me they can... and without turning it into something cheesy. I was actually surprised to find out that the story is based on a real story from the movie writer himself. It is about a 27 year old guy (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who finds out that his back pain was actually... cancer.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a face that I remember more from 500 Days with Summer than from Inception (blame it on Leonardo DiCaprio). He plays Adam with such charisma that all you want to do is take him home and take care of him. His best friend, played by Seth Rogen, is the one that provides most of the laughs in the movie. It was awesome to see Angelica Houston on screen again even though her portrait of Adam's mom is a little bit too much. Also in the movie are the beautiful Bryce Dallas Howard (even though every time I see her I cannot help remembering M. Night Shayamalan's The Village), and Anna Kendrick with the same sweet girl persona she played alongside George Clooney in Up in the Air.

Expect all those things you usually see in movies with similar plot lines, the chemotherapy scenes, the sick friends, the family sad reactions, and so on. However director Jonathan Levine managed to make a movie that can balance funny and sad with very well built characters that in the end just remind us how the simple things in life, like friendship and love, are the ones that matter the most. (aaaawwwwwwwwww...)

As usual, music is something that always gets my attention in movies, cause they totally mark moments and scenes. The choice of Pearl Jam's Yellow Ledbetter for the ending credit was more than perfect.

I dare to say that this was one of my favorites movies this year.