I really liked this movie the first time I saw it, I found it to be funny, intelligent and highly ironic. However, for some reason I have never really enjoyed it since then and I don't know why.
Charles Martin Smith put together a list of cliches and in-jokes relating to action films and strung them together in a somewhat plausible plot. 50/50 is so subtle that it is often difficult to tell if it is an action/comedy or a parody of an action/comedy... I think that this is one of the movie's primary strengths, but also its weakness.
Again, the first time I watched this I thought it was a brilliant satire, but since then I have become less sure about its satirical side (it is clearly a parody, but I am just not sure if it is as brilliant as I first thought). I have met other people who have had a similar reaction to viewing 50/50, people who really liked it on an initial viewing but were not as impressed the second and third time around. I am really not sure what causes this phenomenon, but I advise anyone familiar with the action films of the 70s and 80s to see 50/50 at least once and enjoy it for the fun that it is.
Also, Peter Weller is fantastic anyway and he and Robert Hayes have surprisingly good chemistry on screen.
