4.0
out of 100
Metascore®Generally favorable reviews Based on a weighted average of all critic review scores.
A sample of reviews from critics across the country.
Every performance in the film is flawless.
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Like another recent feel-good film about the disease, Gus Van Sant's "Restless," it creates a comforting myth. That's one of the things movies are good for.
The result is a duet of outstanding loveliness between Kendrick and Gordon-Levitt, also an actor of nuanced control.
There is a wealth of authenticity in the feel of the movie, as if Levine and/or his writer have endured some of this stuff.
As a comedy about a young man with cancer, it needs to be serious enough to be real as well as light enough to be funny. Though it falls off the wagon at times, it maintains its balance remarkably well.
Buoyant and observant, 50/50 is a small winner; the director, Jonathan Levine ("The Wackness"), has a great touch, mordant but light-handed.
Will Reiser's semiautobiographical script initially prescribes too artificial a story treatment for its characters but is rescued by a genial, low-key vibe that builds in sensitivity and emotion up through the final reels.
Although it veers maudlin in its final act - 50/50 mostly succeeds as a movie about a young man fighting cancer that doesn't give in to sap or sentiment.
The best parts are the in-between ones, neither laugh-out-loud funny nor overtly heart-wrenching.
A feel-good and slightly bad comedy-drama about a young man's fight against cancer, aims to put a tear in your eye and a sob in your throat, if not for long.
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Movies.com Critic
License to Ill
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Buy one ticket and thank me in the morning.
