Odds are GOOD....

Just saw the movie 50/50, and it inspired me to create this blog. The film is a comedy-drama that follows a thoughtful and sensitive young man’s journey shortly after he has been diagnosed with a cancer that statistically gives one a 50 percent chance of survival. For those unfamiliar with 50/50, the movie (originally titled I'm With Cancer) was written by screenwriter Will Reiser, who is actually real life friends with Seth Rogen and was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 24. Reiser survived, and went on to write this script to tell his story; that's the personal core of this that makes it so good.  Furthermore, director Jonathan Levine was able to bring forth a delicate balance of humor and heart to life, thanks in large part that he had a couple family members diagnosed with cancer, and had to navigate with them through that.

Part of the reason 50/50 works so well is the tone, as it's a perfect balance of humor and drama, and not overly stylish or overly "art house", which is huge a testament to Levine's work directing the script. Another contributor to 50/50’s success is that a drama-filled storyline is supported by characters that we actually care about because each is rich in experience and expression, possessing both endearing and less-than-endearing traits. The plot, the characters (and the actors) feel very real, and yet there are point-of-view camera shots and accompanying music that reminds us that there is something more grand and meaningful about the characters, the circumstances and indeed the film 50/50 itself than most peoples mundane and banal lives -- only because too many in our world fail to capture how meaningful are the hours within every day.

The fact is there are people in our home, communities and world that bring meaning and vitality to each and every day – and others who, via their actions or inactions, at best eschew and at worst undermine poignancy.

I remember being in my early 20s, having just graduated from UC Berkeley, and driving with a close friend his cousin’s VW bug from the San Francisco Bay Area to her apartment in Manhattan. We were making a delivery before embarking on a three-month journey to Europe and North Africa. Once we arrived in Manhattan, we crashed at a flat of some recent college graduates trying to make it a go in the Big Apple. The day started with excitement, but as we were invited to a pizzeria to meet with some of their friends for dinner, the discomfort of group dynamics was unsettling. Seated around a long table in the eatery were fifteen 20-something year old men and women each having very little to say. The conversation was vapid, so lacking in substance I can’t remember 25+ years later what was actually said, but I do remember the distinct feeling of discomfort --  ill at ease with literally and figuratively being stuck at long table,  my back to the wall, seated (trapped) with young adults who either had not experienced anything of intrigue in their lives and/or were unable or unwilling to share it, and yet they felt compelled to congregate as a group.

50/50, conversely, invites each of us to intimately examine Adam Lerner’s confrontation with life and death, as he grapples with a diagnosis of spinal cancer. Ironically or not, 50/50 has plenty of backbone, exploring the drama inherent in human interaction and introspection. With timely injections (with just the right dosage) of humor throughout the film, Adam and other characters in the film are able to cope with both the fathomable and unfathomable.

While Seth Rogen’s character in the film – the smart, free-spirited, often self-interested, goofy-yet-also-sometimes-vulgar “Kyle” -- can be incredibly intrusive and obnoxious, he also at the right moments demonstrates his ability to be a true friend -- caring, and ever-present through thick and thin. At one point in the film, Adam Lerner returns his drunk friend Kyle to Kyle’s somewhat disheveled abode and stumbles upon a “How to” book to help a friend through cancer, and finds extensive notes, circles, and underlining of passages – indicating his friend in the end isn’t as self-centered as he had often thought him to be, but rather, truly cares about him.

Of all the scenes in the film, it was this one that propelled me to choke up big-time, as it made me think of a friend of mine who had recently gone well beyond the norm to be there for me in a time of need.

I’m sure that many individuals will be able to connect with the film 50/50. And I’m also hopeful that individuals will be able to intimately discuss with other individuals how they can relate to the themes so well presented in the film. I saw the movie with my wife and teenage daughter, and I was hopeful, when we emerged from the screening room after the titles completed rolling, when my daughter said: “I would love to have a boyfriend like Adam Lerner.”