There's No Doubt That '50/50' Succeeds

Apatow can't pull it off, then who can, right? Apatow protege Seth Rogen puts this question to rest, serving as a producer and supporting actor on 50/50, a winning comedy-drama based loosely on the life of its writer, Will Reiser. Reiser's real battle with cancer over the past six years lends a casual intimacy to 50/50 that previous movies in the same vein have failed to achieve.

Reiser writes himself as the fictional Adam, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The young Adam lives for stability, surrounded by his goofy friend Kyle (Seth Rogen), his distant girlfriend Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard), and his anxious mother Diane (Angelica Huston). This pleasantly banal life satisfies Adam until he is diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that leaves his survival chances at, well,