Spoiler Alert (2022)

Spoiler Alert is a romantic dramedy starring Jim Parsons based on a memoir titled, "Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies at the End", directed by Michael Showalter (the guy who made The Big Sick). The adaptation is co-written by Dan Savage, making his screenwriting debut. That's a pretty remarkable collection of talent, and I didn't even mention that Sally Field and Bill Irwin have supporting roles.

The movie is effectively split into two sections: the first is a straightforward rom-com about a gay couple falling in love, building a life together, and encountering complications. Around the halfway mark, the film pivots to drama, as one of the two leads is diagnosed with cancer, which eventually kills him. The movie let's you know where it's heading at the start (sooner, if you're familiar with the full title of the book it's based on), but that doesn't make the transition any less jarring.

That's intentional, obviously. The movie is an exploration of the concept of a love story, both as a romanticized ideal and in its realistic form. It's extremely effective, though I personally think a 75/25 split between comedy and drama would have served the film better than the 50/50 they went with.

That's intended as mild criticism, at most. The movie is fantastically put together and a big part of the reason I find myself wishing for more comedy is the jokes are really funny. More importantly, the humor is rooted in the characters, a fact that makes them all the more likeable and ultimately increases the impact of the tragedy in the second half.

The drama is good, too, incidentally. It all looks and feels pretty realistic (aside from a few equally effective diversions into impressionistic dream sequences), so you'll want tissues handy - this doesn't pull many punches. They could probably have delivered the same impact with less time in this section, which is why I think there was some room for improvement, but it's not like any of this ever dips short of greatness.

We've yet to talk Christmas, so let's explore why the movie is being discussed on this blog at all. The story is set over a span encompassing more than a decade, but Christmas - for a variety of reasons - is used as the clock driving that timeline. The main character's narration literally measures their time together in Christmases, and the narrative returns to December again and again.

In part, this is a reflection of the writer's lifelong love of the holidays, which the movie establishes early on. It also tethers this to the relationship and what Christmas comes to mean for them as a couple. In addition, it plays with visual connections between holiday decorations and the lights of New York City. Even when the setting drifts away from Christmas, we see colored lights in shops and restaurants, as well as backdrops of the city at night.

On a deeper level, this all of course plays into connections between the midwinter holidays and the passage of time, as well as age-old associations between Christmas and death. The movie doesn't go so far as to actually move Kit's death to Christmas, but it does use some sleight-of-hand to ensure the holidays are associated with the tragedy. Their last scenes together prior to the hospital are set at Christmas, with the added detail of narration establishing they had this last Christmas.

It's all well handled - frankly, everything in this movie is. The writing, directing, and editing are fantastic, as are the performances. Jim Parsons in particular establishes himself as being capable of an incredible amount of depth, while also being absolutely hilarious. Meanwhile, Sally Field and Bill Irwin steal scenes left and right.

Between this and The Big Sick, Michael Showalter is carving out a niche of high-quality romantic dramedies based on actual events. He is ridiculously good at this, and it'll be interesting to see what he does next.

Needless to say this one's highly recommended to anyone who's at a point in their life where they can handle watching a movie in which one of the main characters dies slowly from cancer. No judgment if that's a deal breaker for anyone, but if you're able to watch, it's a fantastic film.