Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives one of his most powerful performances to date starring alongside the hilarious Seth Rogen in a film based on a true story of a man's struggle with cancer and how it affected his life.
Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a regular guy who works at a radio station with his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen). He has experienced some back pain for a while and decides to see the doctor. Upon his visit, he gets diagnosed with a rare type of back cancer and is somewhat in shock by the news because he leads a relatively healthy life, and doesn't even drive a car. The survival rate for the type of cancer he has is 50%.
He tells his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Kyle his big news and they are both devastated, but take different measures to help Adam cope with the disease. Rachael gets him a retired racing dog and gets more detached from him, while Kyle sticks around as much as he can and tries to keep everything normal for Adam, making use of rather unorthodox methods to keep Adam happy in this depressing situation. After a couple of days, he also informs his mom (Anjelica Huston) who happens to have enough on her plate already since his father has Alzheimer's disease. She insists on taking care of him but Adam refuses her advances and confirms that he's going to be just fine without her, although that's not the case entirely.
Adam also starts seeing Katie (Anna Kendrick), who is an inexperienced psychologist working on her doctorate at the hospital. She helps keep him calm and understand that he can't change the situation he's in, only how he chooses to deal with it . They form a kind of friendly bond in the process, and help change each other's empty lives bit by bit.
Soon enough, Adam has no hope left for recovery and plunges deeper and deeper into depression. But even though Kyle seems like Adam's complete opposite, he genuinely worries for his friend and tries to keep his spirits up as much as he can to make him forget the somewhat inevitable ending that may be waiting for him.
First off I would definitely say this is a great movie not just for those who have been affected by cancer but anyone who is looking for a good story. The writing is so crisp and to the point, making it a perfect balance of yin and yang containing as much dramatic and emotional moments, as ridiculous and funny moments, which I think is a great way to go about such a serious matter like cancer. I mean if someone is affected by it, why not just go through it as if it's no big deal and enjoy your time as much as you can because you never know what turn your life can take if something is beyond your control.
The acting I would have to say was some of the finest I've seen in a while. It was portrayed so honestly and openly with each actor just switching around to so many emotions in any one scene. It felt almost like a documentary in feel because this is something that actually happened to Seth Rogen's friend, Will Reiser who wrote this film. So naturally, Seth is playing himself in this movie. I don't know why, but comedy actors have some sort of gift for pulling off dramatic roles so well and bringing some fun to their characters. The most heart-wrenching scene was probably the one where Adam has a nervous breakdown while driving a car for the first time, and you could just see how scared he really is by how he lets it all go by screaming his heart out, letting the audience feel his inner turmoil in that one moment in time when he doesn't know if he will be there tomorrow. Both Anna and Bryce do a great job as well in their roles and Anjelica Huston really shines in her role as Adam's mom, putting her back on the map again.
The cinematography and setting were executed perfectly with the grayness of the city really emphasising Adam's situation and how he feels inside. I think there are many morals in the story that can help people deal with any difficulty whether it be cancer or something different entirely. Adam goes from being completely out of touch with his parents to actually realizing how much he loves them and how much they need him. It would have never happened if he didn't get cancer, which is something you don't want anyone to have but many times it opens your eyes to the simple things in life and changes how you see the things that you once took for granted.
This is probably the dramedy of the year and you definitely don't wanna miss it. The acting - superb, the comedy - divine. It's 50/50, the best of both sides.
No comments:
Post a Comment