Directed by the excellent Jonathan Levine (The Wackness), 50/50 has been by far one of my favourite films of the year. I got to see the film a little early at this year’s BFI London Film Festival and absolutely loved it. So much so that I went and saw it again when it came out a month later, at the end of last month.
50/50 has a terrific cast led by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, who bounce brilliantly off one another on screen, and has such great supporting performances from Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Philip Baker Hall, and Matt Frewer.
I think one of the things that made the film so good is that its writer, Will Reiser, based the film on events he had been through in his own life. Gordon-Levitt’s character is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the young age of just 27, something that Reiser himself had been through. And what’s more, Rogen is one of Reiser’s best friends in real life too. That kind of truth-to-reality really makes everything in the film so believable, which makes it resonate all the more.
The film has been doing tremendously well in critics’ eyes, as well as at the box office, and Reiser’s script has been one of the things people are highlighting as being so good – which it really is. It’s earned the writer the Best Original Screenplay award from both the National Board of Review and the Washington DC Area Film Critics, as well as being recently nominated for the Best First Screenplay award at the Independent Spirit Awards, the results of which will be announced at the end of February next year.
In tandem with all of this success, Deadline have now been given access to the film’s shooting script, and have put it up to share with all of us – just click right here and read away. If you’ve seen the film already, then reading it will make you laugh as you remember how the moments came together on the screen. And if you’ve not seen it, then it will definitely encourage you to go see it as soon as you can. It’s still playing in a few cinemas across the country, and will hopefully be released here on DVD/Blu-Ray sometime in the spring. I’m already looking forward to seeing it for the third time. If you’ve not seen anything else from the film, then you can catch up on all our coverage for it here.
