50/50

3 Paws
Seen recently at Aksarben Cinema

I had no interest in seeing a buddy movie about two guys dealing with cancer (childhood visions of Brian's Song danced in my head). Nor did I have any interest in seeing yet another film starring Seth Rogen, whose one-note acting talent is more palatable in much smaller doses.

I stand corrected. This film is smart, funny, real, heartbreaking and life affirming. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is nothing short of charming as the cancer-stricken Adam, and Rogen manages some nice moments as his lumbering sidekick (the finding-the-book-in-the-bathroom scene was almost too much for my available Kleenex supply). Serge Houde makes the absolute most of his few scenes as Adam's father, and Angelica Huston's turn as Adam's mother makes me wish someone would drop a few great 'middle-aged woman' scripts by her door.

If you don't like to sniffle in public, you might want to wait and watch this one in the darkness of your living room.

Bonus Bones: 10
Bryce Dallas Howard's Rachel manages to do one good thing by bringing home Skeletor, played by a pair of pups named Denver and William. Watch for the street scene in which Skeletor meets Marlow the Wonderdog (played by Marlow the Wonderdog).