I was hesitant to go and see this movie. I've been feeling sick and a little depressed and the last thing I needed to see is a movie about a guy who is sick and depressed. But I finally did see it and for most of the movie, he isn't depressed. I guess I'm glad Joseph Gordon-Levitt wasn't moping through the whole movie but I never really felt he tapped into the experience. He never looked sick. Most of the time he's happy and smiling with some occasional mood swings towards anger. But he never felt sick to me.
I really liked that this took place in Seattle. Hey. My home town. Of course it isn't filmed anywhere near Seattle, but again Joseph Gordon-Levitt wore a Mariners throwback baseball cap so all sins forgiven there.
Adam (Levitt) must've had the most apathetic doctor in history. The first scene we see with the doctor. He comes in, turns on his tape recorder, punches a bunch of stuff up on his computer, and never acknowledges the fact that the man he's talking about is in the room. Our next scene is with Adam's best friend Kyle played by Seth Rogan. I was all prepared to hate this character. The first few words he spoke were all about sex. He really was the stereotypical sex crazed best friend. Until we got further into the story and he became the kind of friend I wish we all could have. I criticized Levitt's performance in that he never appeared really all that sick. But the argument could be made that Kyle was instrumental in keeping his spirits up. He took him to bars, he drove him to his appointments, Kyle had his back the entire time. The character won me over.
The characters overall in the movie were both good and bad. Bryce Dallas Howard played Adam's girlfriend, Rachel. I immediately hated this actress. Not the character. We barely know anything about her. But the acting just sucked so much. I'm glad she left the movie fairly early. Then in walks Anjelica Huston. Why is she not one of the biggest stars in Hollywood? She was amazing. She took a very stereotypical character and made her compelling. She stole the show whenever she was around. I haven't seen her in too many movies since starring in the Addams Family movies. That was almost 20 years ago! Someone needs to get her some more work. She deserves it. Likewise Anna Kendrick. She did a great job playing the inexperienced psychologist. I truely felt she was in way over her head and didn't know what to do. That sounds like I'm slamming her as an actress, but I'm not. She did great.
The biggest issue I had were the subplots. Some of the subplots are just there. Others are there but they go about the way anyone would suspect. For example: here's one that they just don't do anything with. Rachel rescues an old greyhound from the pound in order to help Adam. I loved this dog. They don't even try to hide the fact it's meant to tug at your heart. The dog looks so pathetic and has the biggest, lovable eyes ever. And the dog gets a few scenes and the whole thing amounts to nothing.
An example of a subplot resolving predictibly was with Adam's cancer friends. He meets this group of old guys and he really likes them. They are all very chummy, they get high on marijuana together, etc. They all meet up at the tall one's house for marijuana and a little bit of fun. Next scene: the tall guy is dead. Who didn't see that coming?
Overall, I don't know how to feel about this movie. It wasn't as emotional as I thought it could be. I think there were some opportunites they missed. I would've liked to see more from the Mom dealing with a son with cancer and a husband with alzheimers. I would've liked to see more of his friends and how they reacted. I would've liked to see more scenes of Adam actually being sick and not just wearing pale makeup. But I didn't hate this movie. There were lots of scenes that I thought were very funny and some scenes that were really moving.
I guess it's worth seeing but I'd recommend a rental.
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