We were immediately intrigued by the title of this movie as it is something we reviewers try to avoid completely. Then after reading how out-gay actor 4 time Emmy Award winner Jim Parsons had personally optioned the rights to this memoir by his friend the entertainment journalist (and TVLine co-founder) Michael Ausiello, we had to know more.

The full title of the book is Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Other Four-Letter Words  as it is Ausiello’s account of his husband Kit Cowan’s terminal cancer diagnosis and their final months together.  Parsons is quoted as saying about the memoir  “this one might make you cry. And laugh. And swoon. And cry some more.”

Judging by this first preview trailer Parsons, playing his friend Ausiello, has pitched his performance perfectly .  Of course we will need a big box of kleenex but also the movie offers plenty of humor and old-fashioned romance, too. The scenes that recall the early days of Ausiello and Cowan’s 13-year relationship are a celebration of these two men’s profound love for each other.

Cowan is played by gay Brit actor Ben Aldridge, and his parents by  2 time Academy Award winner Sally Field  and Bill Irwin.  The book was adapted by David Marshall Grant and Dan Savage and the movie is directed by Michael Showalter.  Focus Features will premiere it in select theaters on December 2, and then open nationwide on December 16.