50 50

50/50

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in this film as a 27-year-old man who finds himself diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. As he struggles with his mortality, his best friend (Seth Rogen) helps him to face the reality of his situation, which is where many of the film's laughs come from. With a powerful performance by Gordon-Levitt, the movie is a huge success, especially considering that it manages to find so much humor in a subject that's rarely portrayed as funny. DVD extras include deleted scenes, featurettes and a commentary track with Rogen and director Jonathan Levine.

93%

Real Steel

Hugh Jackman plays a dad and former boxer in this futuristic action flick about boxing robots. When his estranged son shows up and wants to help assemble a robot to fight in the ring, father and son bond. While there are some exciting sequences, the family-friendly flick is also pretty predictable and cheesy. Extras on the DVD include a blooper real and two featurettes.

59%

See one more new release after the jump.

Boxing robots waged an admirable box office battle this weekend, even defeating a pair of ruthless politicians. Real Steel won the first place at the box office with $27.3 million, while fellow new release, political drama The Ides of March, starring Ryan Gosling and George Clooney, came in second place with a total of $10.4 million. Following them in third place was the previous box office winner, Dolphin Tale, which earned $9.2 million. Brad Pitt's baseball flick Moneyball came in No. 4 with $7.5 million, and cancer comedy 50/50, starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, completed the top five with 5.5 million.

Photo courtesy of DreamWorks

I guess Dolphin Tale is a true underdog story — the family friendly flick rose to the top in its second weekend out, topping the box office with $14.2 million. Moneyball came in second place with $12.5 million, followed by the former box office champion, The Lion King 3D re-release. New movie 50/50 didn't fare so well; the Seth Rogen/Joseph Gordon-Levitt cancer comedy only got to fourth place with $8.9 million. Completing the top five was cop drama Courageous, with $8.8 million.

50/50 wasn't the only film that debuted with a disappointing turnout: the Daniel Craig horror film Dream House earned a meager $8.2 million, while romantic comedy What's Your Number was an even bigger flop, taking in just $5.6 million.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

50/50 doesn't really deserve the label "cancer comedy," because it's so much more than that. The film finds humor in the realities of an ordeal that's often treated with kid gloves on screen, but how ever many laughs 50/50 finds (and there are many), the script never mocks the subject matter. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Adam, a guy in his late 20s who's otherwise healthy until the day he finds out he has a rare form of cancer and a 50 percent chance of survival. His best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) supports him and provides a bit of comic relief after Adam is diagnosed and then undergoes chemotherapy and surgery.

Rogen is one of the producers, but he has a more personal stake in the film — his friend Will Reiser wrote the screenplay based on his own experience with cancer several years ago. The end product is a film that's very honest, with elements that are funny, heartfelt, and sometimes scary. To find out why I loved 50/50, just keep reading.