Film Review: 50/50

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Recommended: The moral logic of survivor guilt theme

Introduction

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." (Forrest Gump)

This quotation from the movie Forrest Gump pretty much sums up our lives. Our life is full of uncertainty and we will never know what will happen in the future. This uncertainty makes our life amusing as we prepare ourselves to anticipate the unknown future. Likewise, death is unpredictable but inevitable. We may try to prepare against it by trying to stay safe and healthy but no matter what it successfully grips us with its claws. The movie 50/50 depicts a character that is very young and risk averse but suffers from a life threatening illness. After his diagnosis, he is in denial and he feels he has no support.

Synopsis

50/50 is a comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Levine and inspired by a true story of writer Will Reiser. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, this movie is about love, friendship, survival and finding humor in unlikely places. Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a writer for a public radio who is also a risk-averse man. He has an attractive upcoming artist girlfriend, Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard) and a knuckleheaded friend Kyle (Seth Rogen). His life is turned upside down when he finds out that his nagging back pain is a rare form of cancer of spine. After Googling about the cancer, he finds out that he has a 50/50 chance of survival. He is sent to a young and inexperienced therapist, Katherine McKay (Anna Kendrick), and although their sessions begin with a rocky start, he slowly begins to open up to her about his disease and how it is affecting him. Also, after finding his illness, he mends relationship with his mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) who is also taking care of his father with Alzheimer’s. ...

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...ect matter like cancer and at the same time provides witty and natural humor.

Works Cited

50/50. Dir. Jonathan Levine. Perf. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. Summit Entertainment, 2011. Film.

DeSpelder, Lynne Ann, and Albert Lee. Strickland. The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print.

Forrest Gump. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. By Eric Roth. Perf. Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise. Paramount Pictures, 1994. DVD.

Franklin, Anna. "Questions About Young Adult Cancer That ’50/50′ Doesn’t Answer." Interview by Marc Silver. National Geographic. 30 Sept. 2011. Web. .

"National Cancer Institute." Definition of Chemotherapy. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. .

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