50/50. Beat the Odds.

There is a little kick to my step this morning. Tonight, I'm heading to the screening of Summit Entertainment's movie, 50/50...along with other local San Diegans for LIVESTRONG volunteers, AYA survivors and representatives from the Emilio Nares Foundation (recipient of the Community Impact Project Award from LIVESTRONG).

It's true. I've already screened this movie once. It was amazing. Wait, that didn't seem to get my point across. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. There. That's better. It is a serious movie and seriously funny, and one of the best movies I have seen all year (I'd say THE best, but I am a Harry Potter fan, so that's a little hard for me to say....). This is a story about a young adult cancer patient, his family, friends and therapist --- all wrapped up and put into a movie by the same folks that brought us the movie Superbad.

And you know what? They got it right. I'm serious, and I consider myself an expert on the topic as a cancer survivor! When I was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 31, a friend brought over a bunch of Julia Robert movies to help cheer me up. Nothing like total indulgent in movies to zone out from the suffering of chemotherapy. That is until I came across the movie, "Dying Young." (Seriously, a note to all of you that read this blog: Never EVER give your friend who has cancer the movie "Dying Young" to watch while they are sick.) And, being in a "pity me" mood, I watched it. Oh yeah, I was that smart. Now don't get me wrong, it's a great flick. But it's just sad, sad...and then sad.)

50/50 captures what so many other "Big C" movies don't: the experience of facing it as a young adult, the effect on friendships and family, the importance of trying to get mental health therapy support (although, um, I'd recommend a more seasoned one in real life), the freakouts, the humor, the not wanting to tell people, the wanting to tell people, the dating, the sex, the humor and the resilience.

I spent most the movie laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair, and at the same time, I was trying to be sneaky and wipe away my tears without the person next to me seeing me (until I saw that the whole movie row was crying and laughing, too). I found myself nodding because I, too, am a young adult cancer survivor, and I remember those same experiences. I remember shaving my head, not wanting to tell my family, struggling with a relationship and trying to express all this in words to others.

So, I am looking forward to tonight. It'll be special because Summit Entertainment has been awesome enough to partner with LIVESTRONG and allow us to have a table at tonight's screening to share about the LIVESTRONG and other local cancer services here in San Diego. I'm a little nervous about addressing a theatre packed full of people, but I figure they won't walk out on me because, hey, they all want to watch a movie, right? Ha ha. I'm kidding. I bet most of the audience has been affected in some way by this disease, and I believe this movie intelligently and with tons of humor captures the experience in a very entertaining way that is definitely worth seeing on the big screen (don't wait for DVD folks...you'll want to see this one in the theatres, trust me).

So, mark your calendars now for September 30th when the movie 50/50 releases to theatres everywhere, and watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen #BeatTheOdds. You can check out the trailer and gallery on the movie website by clicking here or: http://www.50-50themovie.com/

Cures Rock! (Cancer does not.)