‘SPOILER ALERT’ is an LGBT love story based on the book “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies” by Michael Ausiello about his real life experiences with his late husband, Kit Cowan.
Their true story happens in New York.
It stars Jim Parsons as Michael. Parsons won four Emmy best actor awards for “Big Bang Theory” and the Golden Globe for his wacky role as the gay talent agent in “Hollywood”.
In “Spoiler Alert”, he plays Michael, the narrator who writes for “TV Guide”.
In 2001, a friend takes him to a gay bar in Manhattan and he meets Kit (Ben Aldridge, a British actor best known for TV shows like "Fleabag", "Pennywroth"), a photographer, and they immediately get attracted to each other.
The film is told with Michael’s past life as a fat boy presented as a sitcom.
Both his parents died when he was young and the sitcoms of his childhood remind him of the happiest moments of his life.
He has his insecurities as he is a dweeb with a ridiculously massive collection of Smurf merchandise items, compared to Kit who is a tall and good-looking hunk who looks like he just stepped out from the pages of GQ.
They both have apprehensions about committing themselves in a serious relationship, specially Kit who prefers casual sex than having a steady boyfriend. But their feelings for each other got the better of them and they start living together in Kit’s apartment.
Kit has not admitted that he’s gay to his parents (Sally Field and Bob Irwin.) When he gets appendectomy and is confined in a hospital, his parents come to town to visit him.
This is a hilarious sequence as his mom starts suspecting something fishy about their relationship and Kit finally comes out to his parents, who turned out to have no problem in accepting his sexuality and also Michael as another son.
They lived together for a total of 14 years and just like with any couple, their relationship hits a snag at some point. Michael becomes too busy with his career as a TV host and starts drinking a lot.
Kit, in turn, is hooked with smoking weed and Michael suspects he’s having an affair with a handsome guy, Sebastian.
They consult a therapist who help them sort out of their feelings and recommends that they separate for a while.
Kit moves to another apartment, but they remain committed to each other.
They even spend their Christmas together with their close friends.
It’s after the dinner with their friends that Kit doubled up in pain and Michael accompanies him to a doctor to find out what’s ailing him. It turns out he has a malignant growth in his rectum.
From here, Kit’s health gets from bad to worse.
There was a time he felt better after getting radiation therapy and they go out on vacation in a beach resort in Ocean City on the Jersey Shore. His parents join them and it was a happy time for all of them.
But Kit’s health deteriorates further and his doctor says he has only about a few weeks to live. In a beautiful and touching sequence, Kit and Michael have a heart to heart talk.
Michael says he never told Kit how attractive he is because he’s afraid Kit might leave him for a better looking guy. Kit, in turn, confesses he slept with Sebastian and apologizes to Michael.
For the first time, Michael smokes weed with Kit, who then proposes marriage to him. They went to a judge the next day and officially get hitched, with their friends in attendance.
In his final days in the hospital, Michael allows Sebastian to give Kit his last visit.
It could have been a very heartbreaking scene, but Michael counters this with a fantasy scene where he sees himself interviewing Kit like he is just an actor playing a part in a show and his character is being killed off.
The film’s director, Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick”, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) knows the material can easily be melodramatic and sentimental so he tempers it with comedy. He gets splendid performances from the ensemble cast.
Jim Parsons is duite disarming as Michael. He gives a sweet and charming performance as a shy, emotionally guarded man who has no vices other than drinking DIet Coke and absurdly collecting Smurfs products.
Aldridge is effortlessly appealing as Kit, who seems to be so physically fit that it comes as a big shock when he is diagnosed with the terminal disease.
He and Parsons have an easy chemistry, seen when they engage in witty banter, and both show a good job of showing the vulnerable side of the characters they portray.
Also superb is Sally Field as the indomitable mother who joins triathlons and jogs with Michael, with whom she gets along very well.
Compared to the very rampant BL series we see online, this movie is definitely more realistic in showing the highs and lows of a long term relationship.
And don’t leave when the end credits start as midway, they show a film clip with Kit in a scene in the movie.
Only this time, it’s not an actor who is in it but the real late Kit.
It’s a very touching of paying tribute to the late photographer, making this a timeless romantic melodrama for all ages and for all sexual persuasions.
