Film Review: 50/50

1362 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The moral logic of survivor guilt theme

Introduction

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." (Forrest Gump)

This quotation from the movie Forrest Gump pretty much sums up our lives. Our life is full of uncertainty and we will never know what will happen in the future. This uncertainty makes our life amusing as we prepare ourselves to anticipate the unknown future. Likewise, death is unpredictable but inevitable. We may try to prepare against it by trying to stay safe and healthy but no matter what it successfully grips us with its claws. The movie 50/50 depicts a character that is very young and risk averse but suffers from a life threatening illness. After his diagnosis, he is in denial and he feels he has no support.

Synopsis

50/50 is a comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Levine and inspired by a true story of writer Will Reiser. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, this movie is about love, friendship, survival and finding humor in unlikely places. Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a writer for a public radio who is also a risk-averse man. He has an attractive upcoming artist girlfriend, Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard) and a knuckleheaded friend Kyle (Seth Rogen). His life is turned upside down when he finds out that his nagging back pain is a rare form of cancer of spine. After Googling about the cancer, he finds out that he has a 50/50 chance of survival. He is sent to a young and inexperienced therapist, Katherine McKay (Anna Kendrick), and although their sessions begin with a rocky start, he slowly begins to open up to her about his disease and how it is affecting him. Also, after finding his illness, he mends relationship with his mother Diane (Anjelica Huston) who is also taking care of his father with Alzheimer’s. ...

... middle of paper ...

...ect matter like cancer and at the same time provides witty and natural humor.

Works Cited

50/50. Dir. Jonathan Levine. Perf. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. Summit Entertainment, 2011. Film.

DeSpelder, Lynne Ann, and Albert Lee. Strickland. The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print.

Forrest Gump. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. By Eric Roth. Perf. Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Gary Sinise. Paramount Pictures, 1994. DVD.

Franklin, Anna. "Questions About Young Adult Cancer That ’50/50′ Doesn’t Answer." Interview by Marc Silver. National Geographic. 30 Sept. 2011. Web. .

"National Cancer Institute." Definition of Chemotherapy. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. .

Show More
Related

  • Literary Devices Utilized in Thomas Foster's Book "How to Read Literature Like a Professor" Put to Use in "Pulp Fiction"

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pulp Fiction. Dir. Tarantino Quentin. Perf. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth

    Read More

  • Death Ushers Grief in “Whoever We Are, Loss Finds us and Defines Us” by Anna Quindlen

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Whoever We Are, Loss Finds us and Defines Us”, by Anna Quindlen, she brings forth the discussion grief's grip on the lives of the living. Wounds of death can heal with the passing of time, but in this instance, the hurt lives on. Published in New York, New York on June 5, 1994, this is one of many Quindlen published in the New York Times, centered on death's aftermath. This article, written in response to the death of Quindlen’s sister-in-law, and is focused on an audience who has, currently is, or will experience death. Quindlen-a columnist for the New York Times and Newsweek, Pulitzer Prize winner and author-has written six bestselling novels (Every Last One, Rise and Shine, Object Lessons, One True Thing, and Black and Blue) and has been published in the New York Times and Newsweek.

    Read More

  • Things They Carried in The Great Train Robbery and The Things They Carried

    1746 Words  | 4 Pages

    Forrest Gump. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Screenplay by Eric Roth. Perf. Tom Hanks and Mykelti Williamson. Paramount, 1994. Film.

    Read More

  • The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

    928 Words  | 2 Pages

    It talks about those who live with terminal cancer and how they learn to deal with it. There is several emotions for all of those who experience it, and there are some similar ones everyone has according to this article. It sounds like it could be accurate, but there is always room for a little bit of doubt. It is done done on .com site, but shares some similarities to other articles and was found google scholar.

    Read More

  • Jurassic Park: Gender Politics and Dinosaurs

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jurassic Park. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Per. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenbourough, Ariana Richards and Joesph Mazzello. Universal Pictures. 1993. Film.

    Read More

  • Passed On Death And Loss Sparknotes

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    African American reactions to death and loss can be traced to their African roots, their centuries of slavery, their commitment to Christianity, and their post-slavery treatment in American society. Among those to explore death and dying in twentieth-century African America is author Karla FC Holloway. In her book Passed On: African American Mourning Stories: a Memorial Collection, Holloway thoroughly investigated the myths, rituals, economics, and politics of African American mourning and burial practices, and found that ways of dying are just as much a part of black history as ways of living.

    Read More

  • Improving End-of-Life Care in The United States

    2060 Words  | 5 Pages

    Americans at the end of their lives no longer have this sense of continuity and stability. Rituals today are as likely to include tubes and noisy machines, artificial ventilators and unpleasant drug regimens bringing as many unpleasant side effects as health benefits. Many times the dying languishes in a hospital bed, surrounded not by the comforts of home and family but rather by sterility and bright lights, strangers and hushed voices. Death is no longer a mysterious part of a cherished tradition but a terrifying ordeal to be postponed as long as possible, an enemy that must be fought off at all costs.

    Read More

  • How Has Cancer Changed My Life

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    Isn’t it overwhelming to consider the fact that approximately one in eight deaths in the world are due to cancer? To make this more comprehensible, the number of deaths caused by cancer is greater than caused by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Along with the idea that this disease does not have a definite cure is a mind-staggering concept to grasp. If not caught in time, cancer means guaranteed death. These types of thoughts were floating around my head when my mother had told me that my father had mouth cancer.

    Read More

  • How Does American Beauty Relate To Sociology

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Remember those posters that said, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life”? Well, that’s true of everyday but one – the day you die.” – Lester Burnham

    Read More

  • The True Forrest Gump: The Book vs. the Movie

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re going to get” (Hanks). Many times when books are changed into movies they are done incorrectly. Forrest Gump is one of these examples. Forrest Gump, the novel, was written in 1986 by the author Winston Groom. The movie Forrest Gump was created by Paramount Pictures in 1994. Tom Hanks stars as the main character Forrest Gump. The movie portrayed Forrest Gump in a different way and as sometimes more innocent than his character in the book. This is shown in three different ways: Jenny and Forrest’s relationship, Characters’ drug use, and in the book Forrest is involved in more activities and adventures.

    Read More

  • The Film Philadelphia- Prejudice on an Innnocent Man

    955 Words  | 2 Pages

    Philadelphia. Dir. Jonathan Demme. By Ron Nyswanger. Perf. Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas, and Joanne Woodward. TriStar Pictures, 1993. Youtube Crackle.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Movie Forrest Gump

    986 Words  | 2 Pages

    The film by Eric Roth, has the view of a modern fiction story, which is very uncommon for the modern movies now a days. Tom Hanks plays the hero in this film. His character is a man with an IQ of 75, who during his life, between the years of 1950 and 1980, comes in contact with every major event in American history. And somehow he survives all of these events with only honesty and niceness.

    Read More

  • 50/50 Psychology

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movie I chose to write about is 50/50. This movie was released September 30, 2011 staring big names like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anna Kendrick. These actors are usually known for their comedies but 50/50 takes comedy and turns it into an enlightening take on the effects of cancer on a loved one and coping with terminal illness. The first time I saw this movie was when it was in theaters and just remember crying so much because my grandfather had passed away of cancer in 2009. This movie is very engaging and is interesting to see both perspectives of someone who is going through dealing with the reality that they have a 50% chance of dying and seeing the effects this situation has on family and friends.

    Read More

  • Forrest Gump Disability

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forrest Gump This movie portrays the life of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) a simple man from Greenbow, Alabama in the USA. The movie starts with Forrest sitting at a bus stop and telling passers by the story of his life. Forrest explains how he met and fell in love with Jenny Curran (Robin Wright ). He also tells us how he had leg braces as a child and how he met Elvis and showed him a dance move for which he became famous. Despite the fact that Forrest has a learning disability he gets into the University of Alabama on an athletic scholarship.

    Read More

  • Forrest Gump Existentialism

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forrest Gump was written by Eric Roth and stars Tom Hanks in the lead role. The movie portrays the life of a man (Forrest Gump). With an IQ of 75, he goes through everyday life and changing the world around him without even realizing. The life of Forrest takes place in America from the 60’s all the way up to the 90’s.

    Read More

More about Film Review: 50/50

Open Document