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This drama and comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen tells the difficult story of a young man that got a spinal cancer. By “difficult” I meant also how difficult it is to tell such a story without falling in over-the-top acting and melodrama. Also, with Seth Rogen, you might expect crass humor throughout. Yet, it has all of these (drama, acting and crass humor), but with great tact and balance. In fact, the tone of the movie was amazing and never felt too emotionally heavy or light.

In a strange way, it all felt “real”. JGL’s acting really felt like this happened in real life to him rather than “I must act like I’m dying to get awards”. Even his mother played by Anjelica Houston, whom I normally dislike in her over-the-top style, felt like a real mother.

Well, maybe it’s because it’s based on the life of the writer (Will Reiser) whom was real-life friends with Seth Rogen when he got cancer. I think it really shows that this was written from authentic personal experiences rather than imagining what it’s like to get cancer at that age. And we all get the wiser from watching.