50/50

It's something that happens to other people. The Big C. Adam, at tender age of 27 (played brilliantly by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is suddenly told he has a tumour on his spine. He remains calm, while his mother (the ever-dependable Anjelica Huston) worries herself silly, his best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) turns to humour and alcohol, and his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) copes by avoidance and distance. As Adam takes up chemotherapy and counselling sessions with cute but inexperienced therapist (Anna Kendrick), his chances of survival are estimated at 50/50.

It's not as grim as you might expect from the subject matter, it's refreshingly honest and surprisingly funny throughout, adding a couple of tearjerking scenes for balance here and there. Adam's chances are fifty-fifty, and so the final outcome is never certain. Gordon-Levitt is excellent and you'd have to be made of stone to not feel for his character. By the end you'll want to hug the nearest person next to you and invite them out for a beer. Based on a true story and absolutely unmissable!

UK release date: 25th November 2011