Seth Rogen Gets (Kind of) Serious in Trailer for Cancer Dramedy '50/50'

When I think about Seth Rogen, I don't automtically think "great dramatic thespian." Very funny man? Check. Conduit to express the agony of the human experience? Less so.

So when I heard he was going to be in this movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (a man of considerable talents, both dramatically and comedically) in which the protagonist (Levitt) gets cancer, I thought "huh...well that'll be something."

Well the trailer for "50/50" is now online, and lo and behold, it seems Rogen has been given the role of "buddy who tries to help you through it by making you think of anything else." It's a good role. It suits him. His lack of comfort with dramatic material could suit the character's lack of comfort with dealing with his best friend's mortality. Yes, I am reading a lot into the trailer, but that's what I'm here for, eh?

Screenwriter Will Reiser based his script on his own battle with cancer, and it looks refreshingly honest - funny, emotionally intense, awkward. You know, just like life. Reiser's days of collaborating with Rogen, who also produced the film, go back to "Da Ali G Show," on which Reiser was an associate producer and Rogen was a writer, and this became a sort of passion project for them. Luckily, this looks like one of those instances where the passion made for a better movie, rather than an overly indulgent one.

"50/50" will be out on September 30th. Check out the trailer below, or head over to Apple to watch it in HD with a short introduction by Rogen and fellow producer Evan Goldberg.