DVD Review: 50/50 (+trailer)

Cancer - that must be just about the most difficult subject to cover in a movie.

How do you tell such a story with just the right amount of depth without being overwhelming morbid?

But 50/50 has done an admirable job of giving viewers an insight into the way different people handle the Big C.

Adam (Joseph Gordon- Levitt) is a super-nice 27-year-old who is more about helping others than helping himself. When he gets the shock of his life after getting a sore back checked out, his life goes into a tailspin. All the questions pop up - why me? Why now? Will I live?

To help him through his crisis, Adam needs to rely on his schoolboy mate Kyle (Seth Rogen), who is everything Adam is not, and his girlfriend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard).

But cancer has its way of bringing some people closer and sending others scurrying away.

Adam soon discovers that Kyle, for all his faults, is one true friend he can rely on.

Adam is sent to hospital therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick), a young and inexperienced practitioner. He comes to realise that her help is invaluable in his progress through this ordeal.

This movie cleverly explores the issues around the illness without it becoming a medical documentary.

It is a warm yet realistic story told with humour and honesty.

50/50

(R16), Roadshow Entertainment

Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars