I would think it would be extremely difficult to make a movie about cancer. You could too easily fall into a tear-jerker melodrama but anyone touched by cancer doesn’t want to experience that all over again and what movie-goer wants to pay to get depressed.
Or, you could minimize the whole experience and just make fun of it all but that would be an insult to cancer survivors and misleading to anyone who is ignorant of what it’s all about. Like I said, it’s very difficult to approach this subject.
Yet I think this trailer shows a lot of promise. First, the insanity of Seth Rogen is perfect for cancer (though he can get a little juvenile in his humor). You need someone who is wacky and crazy yet still stands by like a best friend.
But, they still bring the seriousness of cancer into the story. I especially like the haircutting scene – that brought some tears to my eyes because that’s almost how I did it two years ago.
I also like the touch of surprise and even anger that Adam, the lead character, displays when he finds out he has cancer. I wasn’t as young as him but was still young – by far the youngest person every time I was at the cancer clinic.
When Katie (his psychiatrist?) asks him how he feels and he answers but she keeps digging, I got chills when he turns blunt in his matter-of-fact response. Perfect!
The kicker is how she tells him later in the trailer that how he responds and deals with it is the only thing he can control. That’s exactly what I said in a previous post.
I will go see this one and I hope they balance the craziness of cancer with the seriousness. Here’s the official movie website.
Does this movie look interesting to you? Will you go see it or rent it later? Tell me what you think.
(If you are fighting cancer, you must buy my book. Thanks for reading! You can subscribe to get updates here.)
Here’s a documentary that won a lot of awards but looks way too “serious” for me: http://www.notasipictured.org/
This looks like the kind of movie I loved before cancer and would love even more now as a survivor.
John, have you seen 50/50 yet? I saw it and would love to hear what you thought of it.
Have not seen 50/50 yet but definitely will and will get a post up about it.