So I don't know if there's any legitimacy to this theory of mine or not, but I just came up with it tonight, so hear me out. My theory, simply, is that there are two kinds of narratives. There are "stories", i.e., things that actually happened or feel like they did, and there are "tales", i.e., something more based in allegory, metaphor, legend, archetype or the like. And one's not necessarily better than the other.. each narrative technique has a time and a place, and each can be damn effective when done well. This flick is a "story", plain and simple. TV producer and friend to Seth Rogen Will Reiser wrote the screenplay based on his own experience with rare spinal cancer and this flick has the feel of authenticity to it. Not the sort of authenticity where it's like "this is what cancer is like"... rather, the sort of authenticity where you know this is what HIS cancer WAS like. And there's something powerful about that. Is it THE definitive film on grief and illness and coping? Absolutely not.. but what it is is a very human and intimate look into the mind, experience, reactions and emotions of one very small group of people. So based on that, on with the review. So Adam is a young man in Seattle Washington, all is seemingly well with his world. He's got a beautiful girlfriend who's keeping stuff at his place.. he has an entertaining friend, an interesting job, etc., etc. Lingering back pain drives him to the Dr., where an MRI reveals a large mass that turns out to be a malignant tumor. World. Rocked. Needless to say, the diagnosis of a rare and serious form of cancer turns his world upside down. He undergoes chemotherapy, sees a therapist at the hospital, and struggles to deal with the seriousness of what the diagnosis actually means.
This is an odd little film. It feels like an indie movie + Seth Rogen and Bryce Dallas Howard, but it's not. It's sad and melancholy and sweet and funny and depressing and uplifting in turns. I laughed out loud more than once and teared up more than once.. not your everyday combination. This is an intimate film.. 90% of which takes place either in a hospital or either Adam or Kyle (Rogen's) places and has about 8 characters that actually matter.
As a quick aside, I don't quite know what to make of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an actor. He clearly displays fine range and can be very, very good in spots. He has a great screen presence and more than adequate emotional range. At the same time, however, and I don't know if this is due to his choice of roles or what, but he's always playing these melancholy, excessively quirky straight laced indie dudes. Is that him in real life? Even in Inception he played a sort of frumpy straight-laced grump. There's no real difference so to speak of between his character here and his character in "500 Days of Summer".
With that being said, this is a film that will succeed or fail based entirely on the strength of its cast. Joseph Gordon Levitt is very good approaching perfect in this role. He basically effortless displays the emotional and physical roller coaster that is dealing with a life-threatening illness. There are two scenes in particular, the night before and day of a major operation, that are poignant, touching, raw and powerful. I can take or leave Seth Rogen most of the time.. but his schtick works in this one. He's the jokester, gross pig of a best friend who also has an underlying sensitivity and humanity to him.. and it works, very well. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Rachael, Adam's girlfriend who turns out to be unable to handle the intensity of the whole cancer thing. She's an awful person and reminds me of certain characters from my past. You know, selfish and emotionally stunted and needy. That being said, she's extremely beautiful. Stunning even. Anna Kendrick plays Katherine, Adam's young therapist at the hospital, who is sweet and awkward and utterly believable. Phillip Baker Hall plays a patient at Adam's chemotherapy sessions who develops a bond and is very warm and believable as an elderly cancer patient. Angelica Houston plays Adam's mother.. and does a lot more with her role than she by rights should. She comes off as convincing and loving and completely authentic.
This is a very good film. It's genuinely touching while also quite funny. The direction is understated and the actors are given plenty of room with which to work. You really get the impression that these are people with a wide range of emotions and motivations rather than a stock set of characteristics that are generally written into comedies of all stripes. As I mentioned above.. I laughed, I teared up, I cared. I'm about 99% sure that's exactly what this flick set out to do.
8/10.
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