Testing my Netflix mood

In theaters Friday: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, The Secret World of Arrietty,This Means War, Undefeated

New on Blu-ray/DVD: Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, The Rum Diary

All apologies to my fellow cinephiles but I have to admit that, over the two months, I have lost complete track of my Netflix queue. The last few red-enveloped deliveries have been complete surprises to me. The Criterion version of David Bowie’s 1976 head scratcher The Man Who Fell to Earth? When exactly did I add that?

Last Friday, I was unknowingly hit with a double-whammy of death-obsessed dramas: the cancer-stricken 50/50 and the funeral-fixated indie love story Restless.

Why is Netflix trying so hard to cheer me down?

I haven’t gotten around the latter yet, but the former stars the multi-talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the stand-in for the film’s writer Will Reiser who penned the screenplay based on his own experiences battling the ill-effects of a rare form of cancer he was diagnosed with in his 20s. Completely blindsided by the news that his backaches are due to a potentially terminal disease, Gordon-Levitt must navigate the emotional isolation and physical pain the comes not only with his spreading cancer but from the loss of his cold-hearted girlfriend—played by Bryce Dallas Howard still in full The Help mode—the lack of understanding from his stoner best buddy—a typically gregarious and aloof Seth Rogen—and a long-time disconnect with his formerly overprotective mother—the always stellar Angelica Huston.

It’s a touching story for sure, one that benefits greatly from Reiser’s apparent attention to detail. Moments like the creeping numbness of first hearing the “C” word from his doctor, to the palpably awkward frustration exuding from every moment of the first few meetings with his appointed, overly-eager but inexperienced therapist, to the sudden fear of anesthesia that grips him like a vice just before a risky surgery all ring devastatingly true.

Unfortunately, Kendrick’s borderline inappropriate Nightingale-like crush on her client was the only thing that felt artificial. She plays the long-suffering, intelligently awkward girl well, and is absolutely likable doing it, but the entire love story felt rushed and unnecessarily wedged into what started out as a completely different, and frankly more interesting film.

Watching this, I actually thought, “Why does every film have to include a love interest?” Why couldn’t this have just been a movie about a guy battling cancer and how his friends and family deal with it? I won’t spoil the movie for those who haven’t seen it—and it is worth seeing, for sure—but what should be the emotional, resonant climax here is trumped instead by, erm, a first date. Really?

Gordon-Levitt is one of my favorite young actors, and he does yeoman’s work here, especially considering he did not join the film until four days into production after original lead James McAvoy chose to drop out for personal reasons. Reiser’s script is really solid, not showy or cheesy or melodramatic in the least, but I can’t help but think the Hollywood machine chewed up his original idea and spit out the romantic comedy version or cancer survival. Maybe that’s the compromise it took to even get this small film—and Reiser’s first feature—funded in the first place. If so, that’s still unfortunate. Because as it stands 50/50 is a good film, but somewhere in there, or in Reiser’s pile of drafts, is a movie that is truly great.