January 28, 2019

#17 - Coping With Illness in 50/50 (Movie)

56 minutes

Up Top: What is a mental health day? The Try Guys from Buzzfeed are taking a Mental Health Break. That gets the guys asking: What exactly is a Mental Health Break?

Breakdown: Talking about how Adam copes with his Cancer diagnosis in 50/50, and the reality of what that looks like in real life. Also, what and how should family and friends react?

Ratings: Ryan rates 50/50 a 4 out of 5 Weed Macaroons for accuracy of the portrayal. Mike rate this movie as AWESOME with a 5 out of 5 stars. Mike is a terrible movie reviewer.

Synopsis: Today, we are covering the 2011 film 50/50 Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt as Adam, Seth Rogen as his Best friend, Kyle, Bryce Dallas Howard as Rachael , the estranged girlfriend, and Anna Kendrick as Katie the Therapist-in-training tasked with counseling Adam.

Adam, a quiet, straight-laced, public radio journalist is a pretty content kind-of-guy. He loves his job. His best friend Kyle, though horribly obnoxious and inappropriate, is a good person and a genuine friend. His Mom, as overbearing as she can be, loves him dearly, and he just gave his artist girlfriend, Rachael, her own drawer at his house. Things are looking good for Adam!

That is, until he is diagnosed with cancer. Adam had been experiencing intermittent back pain for awhile, and receives some abrupt news from his Doctor that he has a pretty rare form of cancer in his spine and needs to begin treatment immediately. Adam seems almost lost as he learns that the survival rate for his type and stage of cancer is only 50/50

The response from friends and family of the news is a little overwhelming for Adam. Kyle has no filter and just blurts all the wrong things out, his Mom annoys him with her constant worry, and his girlfriend suddenly moves in to take care of him, only to move out after she is caught cheating on him.

Feeling like he needs another outlet to cope with the news of his sickness, Adam seeks counseling from a young Therapist who is training at the hospital that is treating him.

We watch as Adam goes through the pain and sickness caused by Chemo. We see the color drain from his face as his cancer progresses. We see him being afraid and angry and heartbroken. Adam is saved when the cancer is surgically removed from his spine. When the credits roll, we are left wondering, "how would I handle that?"

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Credits:

created by: RYAN ENGELSTAD

produced by: MIKE GRAHAM

Music Credits:

"Killers" & "Inner Light" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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By Ryan Engelstad & Dr. Hayley Roberts

4.7

5353 ratings