50/50 (2011 film)

50/50 is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Levine, from a screenplay written by Will Reiser, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, with Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Serge Houde, Philip Baker Hall, Matt Frewer, and Anjelica Huston in supporting roles. The film is loosely inspired by Reiser's own experience with cancer.

Plot

Adam Lerner is a 27-year-old public radio journalist in Seattle with an artist girlfriend Rachael, of whom his best friend and co-worker Kyle disapproves; where Kyle is brash and outspoken, Adam is more introverted and mild-mannered.

After experiencing harsh pains in his back, Adam learns from his doctor that he has schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma (a malignant tumor) in his spine, and must undergo chemotherapy. He sees on the Internet that his chances of survival are fifty-fifty. After Adam reveals his diagnosis, his overbearing mother, Diane, who already cares for her husband Richard suffering from Alzheimer's, wants to move in and care for him. Adam rejects this offer, as Rachael has promised to be the one to take care of him. Rachael, however, is "uncomfortable" going into the hospital during Adam's chemo treatments and is often late to pick him up, as Adam doesn't drive; she also gets him a retired racing greyhound named Skeletor as a companion animal. Throughout Adam's struggle, Kyle attempts to keep Adam's spirits high, which include helping Adam shave his head prior to chemotherapy and openly using Adam's illness to pick up women. While on a date with one such woman, however, Kyle sees Rachael at an art gallery, kissing another man, and forces her to come clean to Adam; this proves to be the final straw in their already strained relationship, and Adam breaks up with her for good. Now single, he eventually started to follow Kyle's lead, and the two use his illness to successfully pick up two women at a bar.