50/50
Year: 2011
USA: Summit Entertainment
UK: Lionsgate UK
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Serge Houde, Andrew Airlie, Matt Frewer, Philip Baker Hall, Donna Yamamoto, Sugar Lyn Beard, Yee Jee Tso, Sarah Smyth, Peter Kelamis, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Daniel Bacon
Director: Jonathan Levine
Country: USA
USA & UK: 100 mins
USA Rated: R for language throughout, sexual content and some drug use
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language, once very strong, strong sex and sex references
USA Release Date: 30 September 2011
UK Release Date: 25 November 2011
Synopsis
"It takes a pair to beat the odds."
50/50 is an original story about friendship, love, survival and finding humour in unlikely places, inspired by personal experiences. Golden Globe nominee Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emmy nominee Seth Rogen star as best friends whose lives are changed by a cancer diagnosis. Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick, Golden Globe nominee Bryce Dallas Howard and Oscar winner Anjelica Huston complete a top-notch starring cast in this warm and uplifting comedy drama.
50/50, the story of a young man's transformative and sometimes funny journey to health is directed by Jonathan Levine, from a script by Will Reiser, which draws its emotional core from his own experience with cancer. The producers are Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and Ben Karlin, with Nathan Kahane and Will Reiser as executive producers.
"We worked with Will on DA ALI G SHOW and it was shortly after that we learned he was sick," Rogen recalls. "As shocking, sad, confusing and generally screwed up as it was, we couldn't ignore that, because we were so ill-equipped to deal with the situation, funny things kept happening. Will got better, and when he did, we thought the best way to pull something good out of the situation was to get him to write a screenplay. Ideally we wanted to make a film that would be as funny, sad, and hopefully as honest as the experience we went through. As soon as the script was completed, it quickly became a passion project for all of us. It helped us come to terms with Will's struggle as well as our own experiences."