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50/50 Trailer: "I Have Cancer" is a Great Pick-Up Line, But Only If You're Joseph Gordon-Levitt

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Trailers | Comments (18)

5050gordonlevitt.jpg

In 2008, Jonathan Levine released The Wackness, a pot-smoking coming of age movie that hit all the right notes, blending 90s nostalgia with delicate heartbreak. I still wake up some mornings with a heavy heart and the the image of Josh Peck staring back out of the elevator in the film’s final scene.

Levine is following it up, somewhat appropriately given the marijuana connection, with 50/50, a cancer comedy based on the life of Will Reiser. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in the Will Reiser role, and Seth Rogen (once again attempting to act) and Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air). Bryce Dallas Howard and Angelica Huston round out the cast. The trailer suggest it has the transformative potential as The Wackness, and it’s a film for which I’m rooting.

Given its release date — September 30th — it may even be a dark horse for Oscar consideration.










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Comments

Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Of course I'm seeing this. I also love Angelica Huston with the fire of a thousand suns and I really want Bryce Dallas Howard to be in a good movie for a change.

Posted by: Sassafrass Green at May 31, 2011 10:44 AM

And this looks like it could be it.

Posted by: Sassafrass Green at May 31, 2011 10:44 AM

This is going to make me cry and I'll love every second of it.

Posted by: Mel C. at May 31, 2011 11:16 AM

Also, this trailer reminds me of why I could never get into Lost. Matthew Fox's character on Party of Five was constantly reminding everyone that he had cancer, but he was no JGL and he was a total dick about it. I kept wondering how he was going to get his chemo on the island. "Oh, you put something in the time capsule at school? That's great. I don't have a future. I have cancer."

Posted by: Mel C. at May 31, 2011 11:22 AM

Obviously I'll see this and it looks great. My mom spent the past year undergoing treatment for cancer (she's okay now) and I appreciate that they show that sometimes people joke about it. You have to or you'll go crazy. Plus, JGL - no brainer.

Also, this may be my Canadian showing, but I like Seth Rogen dammit and nobody's going to make me think otherwise. I even like his big goofy laugh.

Posted by: Nicole at May 31, 2011 11:39 AM

I like JGL and I like Seth Rogen and I cracked up during this preview! So I'll watch it.

Posted by: denesteak at May 31, 2011 12:09 PM

I almost cry and it was just the f-ing trailer... had to remind myself that JGL is ok, he's just an actor and he doesn't have cancer.

I can't help but like Seth Rogen, he was in Freaks and Geeks dammit!

Posted by: Beee at May 31, 2011 12:24 PM

YES! I will watch this.

Posted by: Caspar at May 31, 2011 1:01 PM

I think I have to see this. Not sure if I should.

Posted by: Protoguy at May 31, 2011 3:17 PM

I must see this.

Also, ANYTHING is a great pick-up line if you're Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Posted by: kaizee at May 31, 2011 5:54 PM

I really want Bryce Dallas Howard to not be in any movies.

Posted by: Lauren at May 31, 2011 7:23 PM

maybe

Posted by: splinter at May 31, 2011 7:47 PM

As someone who recently had breast and ovarian cancer, I can vouch for JGL's blankness at people's reactions upon learning of the situation. I have learned that 97% of it is lip service though.

I never saw Party of Five, Mel C., but I would say that not everyone reacts in a positive way with a cancer diagnosis--pretty forgivable don't you think?

Posted by: Ducky at June 1, 2011 6:42 AM

Reminds me of The Lookout: "I thought I was good looking."

Such a good flick.

Posted by: elizabeth at June 1, 2011 9:36 AM

Forgivable reaction for a real person maybe, but this is a fictional character. When writing talent fails, turn to the old standby cancer diagnosis or the lesbian kiss.

"Well I'm sorry your dog got run over by a semi, but I have cancer!" +1 to ratings.

Posted by: collards at June 1, 2011 9:39 AM

Right there with ya Ducky. Stage 4 tonsil carcinoma. It's odd, but I've found it's easier for people to offer sincere and heartfelt words in venues like Facebook and the like. Some are indeed lip service, but I feel like the lack of face-to-face makes it easier for people to open themselves up in a way that can be very vulnerable. Of course, there are people who are completely comfortable with showing affection and emotion in person. I've met a couple of what I can only describe as angels. Not the biblical claptrap, but those rare, kind souls who nurture, who empathize to the point of actually getting up off the sofa and physically offering support/friendship/love. By the same token, I'm finding it's too easy to label the others, the ones who don't or can't be there emotionally, whether physically or digitally. I have to remind myself that a percentage of those are just uncomfortable with emotions, afraid of being intrusive, or simply socially paralytic.

I can also attest to the feeling of numbness I felt in the weeks between diagnosis and surgery. It wasn't so much denial as a detached awareness of what is going on. It's difficult to think of oneself as damaged, and damaged to the point of finality. It's that inability to really process it that blocks emotion, or at least dulls it. Once the brain does indeed wrap itself around the thing as a whole, that's when the floodgates open.

Posted by: Protoguy at June 2, 2011 5:21 AM

And I'm finding I like Seth Rogan as an actor more than I did as a comedian. I watched Funny People last night, and while I can't say it was a good movie, I liked parts of it, mostly Eric Bana and his hyper warring between his osmotic Buddhist beliefs and his tough guy Aussie reality. Rogan's role within a role within a role performance as the straight guy who's writing gags for the comedian who isn't the comic foil of the film. It's a werid dynamic that I dug.

Posted by: Protoguy at June 2, 2011 5:28 AM

Give the boy an Oscar already.

Can't wait.

Posted by: grace b at June 2, 2011 10:21 AM