50/50

So I had the pleasure of seeing another Seth Rogan film called 50/50. Not that he’s the director or anything but he’s the only real point of reference in the film that one can make to other films. 50/50 is about a young 27 year old male who finds out he has cancer and his journey to recovery as most films about illness are, though admitidly this particular one isn’t as heavy in terms of the weight of emotions it imposes on its audience as one would expect. Let me explain why.

We have a supporting actor like Seth Rogan who plays Kyle. A mid 20s goofy, supportive, idiotic and slightly dillusional friend to Adam who is diagnosed with spinal cancer. Along the way they bump into and encounter a lot of different people one of which is a woman he goes to see for his psychology sessions. She however is only in training and learning how to become a psychologist. Along the way they start to get to know eachother and teach the other about love and life. As with any film that has boy and a girl the two of them fall in love. This is apparent from the moment we see them on screen together. The films themes are quite broad and open to interpretation as with any art or film but one to take note of is that of love and family. At some point in the film Adam and Kyle go out looking for women to sleep with after Kyle finds Rachel cheating on Adam with some stranger. At which point Kyle makes it his mission to get Adam laid. Awkwardly though he uses the fact that he has cancer to get girls which seems to work for the unsuspecting victims while he keeps on seeing his shrink we see a potential love interest start to unfold as the film goes on. We also have the element of family and friends. Adams mother worries about the slightest of things including the type of tea he should be drinking while his father with alzhiemers struggles to recognise his face. Rogan (Kyle) offers a wonderful comic relief to the film as it tends to get heavy from time to time. Though I would’ve liked to see abit more intensity from Adam  there seems to be an underlying anger bubbling under the surface that never actually comes out except for one particular moment when he takes it upon himself to learn how to drive.

However with such honest performances on screen one would expect an honest ending. One slightly different to the typical Hollywood ending where the boy recovers in the end and falls in love with the girl in the film. Some may say that stories like this are there to inspire hope in those going through the same thing but if this is art surely it is the artists duty to stay true and honest. Granted all these things are true but it seems a bit too tame for a drama in the end. For the most part it was beautifully honest and sincere however the ending was stero typical and pretty with a bow tie at the end. 

-Wenzi Mgeyane