Four years after his breakthrough role in “Knocked Up,” Seth Rogen finally has a project equal to his talents. And though he’s not the lead in “50/50,” the movie would be way less appealing without him, despite its other considerable merits.
Rogen has been on fire a while now. He came out of the cult TV series, “Freaks and Geeks,” expanding with co-writing and performing credits for “Superbad,” “Pineapple Express,” and “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” among others. Over the past ten years he’s voiced characters in animated features, “Kung Fu Panda,” taken big and small parts in Hollywood movies, “Step Brothers,” “Funny People,” and become a reliable comic presence on late night TV. But a lot of his stuff, like “Green Hornet,” and “Observe and Report,” was so uneven as to leave a bad taste in viewers’ mouths. Still, Rogen has seen a lot of success for a thirty year old.
It’s not that his part in “50/50” is that much of a stretch. He’s still the soft around the edges loudmouth who is alternately unwilling or unable to think before he speaks. It’s the same character who impregnated the curvy battleship Katherine Heigl played so well in “Knocked Up.” A guy who proves that engaging in unprotected sex is the least of his failings. Of all the raunchy voices in his overcrowded head, Rogen’s ego remains the dominant player in this latest comedy. But here the material is just stronger.
“50/50” has been somewhat stigmatized by its premise; the leading character has cancer. The young audience at which it’s directed has balked at instead of embracing it. Yet it’s still holding on in theaters, and you should see it with an audience.
The script has no stake in poking fun at a potentially fatal disease. A handful of well observed moments, like an early scene where a doctor can’t bring himself to spell out the prognosis to his 27 year old patient, clearly address the darkness at the stories heart. But it lets loose on the way people react to the dilemma with unsparing comic force.
Joseph Gordon Levitt takes the lead, and he’s spot on, as a 27 year old suddenly slammed with a rare, life threatening disease, that nobody seems to get better than him. Bryce Dallas Howard and Anna Kendrick are two young women who pull at him in opposite directions. And Angelica Huston shows up as the traditional overbearing mother. The parts may be familiar on the surface, but they’re handled with unerring wit, probably because the script is based on writer Will Reiser’s own brush with a life threatening disease.
Levitt is clearly the movie’s center, but Rogen keeps the comic tension high. He can’t help but interject himself into the most awkward moments, usually where he doesn’t belong. With mostly hilarious results. And that gives the movie the adrenaline needed to keep it sharp through the more predictable episodes.
It doesn’t hurt that the ancillary characters, like Levitt’s Alzheimer stricken father, (Serge Houde,) who barely speaks, make strong impressions. Or that Phillip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer, veterans who raise the bar with their every line, keep the film alive in scenes that could have just marked time. Director Jonathon Levine, who showed promise with “The Wackness,” keeps “50/50” balanced and light on its feet. This is good work, all the way around.
Even though the heat isn’t completely gone, summer is really over. And with it the movie season that’s supposed to be about the obsessions of teenagers, at the expense of all others. But this year’s output, while dominated by the predictable action and fantasy blockbusters, delivered a surprising number of stylish entertainments that cater to adult sensibilities.
Here’s the short list; “Midnight in Paris,” “Beginners,” “Bridesmaids,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “Buck,” “The Guard,” “The Help,” and “Tree of Life.”
By Santa Monica reporter Dan Cohen
There were plenty of indie disappointments; “Last Night,” “One Day,” uneven comedies; “Horrible Bosses,” “Crazy, Stupid Love”, studio bombs; “Cowboys and Aliens,” “Green Lantern,” and the latest in the “Transformer and “X Men” and “Fast and Furious” franchises. You might have avoided the latter three on principle alone, but they’re very well crafted.
I haven’t weighed in on the more controversial aspects of “The Help,” the completely rethought, “Apes,” or “The Guard,” a terrific B movie from Ireland, but I will as they arrive on DVD. My point for now is that any three month period that delivers eight interesting movies must have done something right.
