Ambitious Little Film that Manages to Combine Raunchy Humor and Touching Sentimentality with a Strong Script, Some Delightful Performances and a Peek at Some of Today's Profound Societal Troubles and Tendencies.

Suicide, Gay Guilt, Marital Infidelity, Family Ties, and More are the Threads that Make This a Crazy Quilt of Offbeat Situations with Noble Intentions. It Briskly Tells the Tale in a Smart, Often Engaging Unfolding of a Suicidal Mid-Life Crisis Taking On a Surprising Enlightenment to Our Protagonist Who Discovers Many Misconceptions and is Rewarded New Insight on the Complexity of the Human Condition.

The Movie is Moving, Funny, Profound and a Joy to Behold. Seann William Scott (who has come a long way since the Awful American Pie(1999) Shows a Deadpan Range of Dealing with the Troubled and All Too Human Folks He Encounters.

The Debut Directorial Effort from Actress Courteney Cox is Inspired and if She Manages to Stay with This Kind of Edge a Future in Film Behind the Camera is Likely.

Courtney Cox makes her directorial debut in Just Before I Go starring Seann William Scott (Ted) as mild mannered 41 year old who returns to his home town for some final preparations before he commits suicide.

Ted has never felt right since his father died when he was a kid and although a pet shop manager in LA he feels his life is in a rut especially since his girlfriend left him. Haunted by memories of the high school bully, the teacher who tormented him at school he returns to stay with his brother and confront some of these people.

What Ted finds that life is messed up in his home town. His brother, a police officer is obnoxious, might be having an affair. His wife sensing his infidelity breaks into Ted's bedroom at night and openly masturbates in the guise of sleepwalking, his nephew is closeted gay but hangs around bullies.

His old teacher is in a nursing home, the high school bully is now a single parent raising a disabled child. Ted realises that things have changed but is still unsure about himself. He has an affair with a girl who was nice to him at High School even though she is a married mother of five kids and her weight has ballooned.

This dark bitter sweet comedy actually does not start off promisingly and also not very original. Scott gives a low key performance as Ted, miles away from his character in the American Pie films. The film has just too much contrived zany characters and although the film finds it soft centre eventually it does it with a lot of wonkiness and without much laughs.

Ted (Seann William Scott) lived in a small town and moved to California. His biography is quickly given to us in the first few minutes. We discovered he was bullied (Rob Riggle) in school, berated by his seventh grade teacher (Beth Grant),and had a crush on a little blond girl (Mackenzie Marsh). His dad (Clancy Brown) died when he was young leaving him to live with his uncouth brother (Garret Dillahunt) and mom (Connie Stevens) who has taken up with a female Elvis impersonator (Diane Ladd). When his wife Penny (Elisha Cuthbert) leaves him, he vows to return home, complete a bucket list and kill himself.

In an attempt to complete his bucket list, he discovers that life has moved on and his bucket list doesn't go as planned. Along the way he meets Greta (Olivia Thirlby) who he confides his plan. Greta insists on filming the events as his "Death Muse."

The film deals with teenage homosexuality seriously and sleep walking masturbation not so seriously. This is an indie style quirky comedy/drama/romance whose message is to fill up your life to get rid of the emptiness.

Guide: F-bomb. No nudity. Implied sex. Female masturbation. Genitals outlined. Biggest camel toe I have every seen.