50/50 is a 2011 comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Levine, written by Will Reiser, and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen. The film is loosely based on the life of screenwriter Will Reiser.
Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a young man who has a girlfriend, Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) despite Adam's best friend and co-worker Kyle's (Seth Rogen) disliking her. One day, Adam decides to see a doctor because of back pains and discovers that he actually has a rare type of cancer and must undergo chemotherapy in order to reduce the tumor. The doctor gives Adam the phone number of a hospital therapist in case he needs someone to talk to.
After telling Rachael about the cancer, Adam tells her it's okay if she wants to "bail." Rachael reassures him that she will take care of him during a family dinner where Adam tells his mom about his illness. However, she eventually starts to display growing signs of detachment to him. His mother Diane (Anjelica Huston), who is also taking care of Adam's father, Richard (Serge Houde), who has Alzheimer's disease; and Kyle, who worries for his friend's survival.
Adam starts seeing an inexperienced psychologist, Katherine "Katie" McCay (Anna Kendrick), who helps him deal with his problems. He also befriends Alan (Philip Baker Hall) and Mitch (Matt Frewer), two older chemo patients receiving treatment alongside him, and grows fond of Skeletor, an ex-racing Greyhound which Rachael rescued from the pound.
Kyle starts using Adam's illness to get dates, which annoys Adam. On one of these dates, he sees Rachael kissing another man and takes a picture of her affair on his cellphone, which he immediately shows to Adam. Frustrated at his friend's inability to stand up for himself, Kyle kicks Rachael out of the house.