Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Rottentomatoes.com Rating: 92%
My Rating: 9/10
Warning: Potential Spoilers
This film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fantastic. It appeals to your every inch of your heart and produces the waterworks - at least for me, it did.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Adam Lerner who is diagnosed with a rare spinal cancer at age 27 with a 50/50 chance of survival. The film follows the changes he goes through from the beginning of his illness up until...well you will just have to see it to find out.
What I liked most about this film is that it isn't your generic I-have-a-possibly-fatal-illness-I-have-to-do-everything-I-wouldn't-or-couldn't-have-done-otherwise-films. Adam doesn't really change. But the relationships with the people around him do in the most organic ways.
Most of the film involves Adam in a two-shot or in scenes with just one other significant person in his life. The charismatic duo of Adam and his best friend since puberty (perhaps earlier), Kyle (Seth Rogen), allowed us to see the more lighthearted side of the process.
Seth Rogen is great in this film and it is perhaps my favorite work from him thus far. Although he acted much like other characters he has been cast as in the past, we see some real vulnerability towards the end that doesn't seem as forced because the scripted called for something the audience to relate to.
Some of the most poignant scenes involve Adam and his mother Diane (Anjelica Huston). These scenes are short but they stuck out for me the most. I seriously cried in almost every scene featuring these two together.
The chemistry between Gordon-Levitt and Anna Kendrick who plays Katherine, his therapist, is there. The scenes between them are subtle and I did not feel like the potential relationship between them was being shoved down my throat, which I think is beneficial to the film because it allows the audience to focus less on if and when they get together but on Adam and him dealing with his situation. Anyway, they are sweet and cute. And most importantly, real.
Lastly, Gordon-Levitt is great in this. He makes Adam likable and I was empathetic throughout the film hoping the best for him. This is wonderful for me because I have kind of steered clear of Gordon-Levitt since his Inception and 500 Days of Summer jump in fame because like with Ryan Gosling (who is starring in almost every quality(?) film lately), there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Go see it. Bring some tissues.
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