50/50 (2011)

Directed by: Jonathan Levine | 100 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Julia Benson, Philip Baker Hall, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Marie Avgeropoulos, Beatrice Ilg, Luisa D’Oliveira, Lauren Miller, Veena Sood, Andrew Airlie , Serge Houde

Usually, the kind of indie comedies to which ’50/50′ belongs use a great deal of cinematic means to tell their story. They often and enthusiastically switch between color, black and white, music video and animation, after which a hip soundtrack is used in the often non-linear line that finds the perfect balance between unknown numbers of greats and the smaller – and often more low-key – music of hidden music secrets. See there the formula for many films from the Independent circuit of America. Not Hollywood squatters, but also not so small that they are completely excluded. The genre is relatively new and therefore has few clichés, which the makers often make heavy use of.

Jonathan Levin adapted Will Reiser’s script, which tells the story of a boy who gets cancer, in the most positive and clichéd way possible. Where the characters from the film are sometimes difficult to describe, the story follows a solid course and indie forces Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and the relatively unknown Anna Kendrick are brought in for a recognizable face. But not that this is bad. The script by Will Reiser – who has a chance to win an Oscar nomination as an outsider – is linear, but all the other clichés are very pleasant. The romance between Adam (Gordon-Levitt) and his psychologist (Kendrick) is so delicately awkward, the infectious humor is present in the person of his best friend Kyle (Rogen) and the overprotective mother (Anjelica Huston) and Alzheimer’s father ( Serge Houde) provide the sad note.

The film shows that clichés are sometimes not bad, when used well. And well, then Michael Giacchino’s music is a bit tame, and the cinematography is sometimes a bit too intense – the light-hearted way in which the heavy subject is handled and the excellent soundtrack (with Pearl Jam, Roy Orbison and Radiohead) make up for this . Moreover, the cast convinces, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt manages to score again after ‘(500) Days of Summer’ and ‘Inception’, while ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and the new Tarantino ‘Django Unchained’ are waiting for him. It looks like Hollywood can expect their new leading man in a few years.