Before I Go

I haven't seen Anabella Sciorria in anything for ages. I did not recognise her at first!

Yes, this is slow moving, but that's just what depression feels like. A slow, slow sludge, dragging you down whilst you shuffle around and pretend you're living.

Would watching this cure you of depression? No, but it does provide some sort of understanding of the condition and how debilitating it can be.

There were moments of offbeat humour and some equally odd supporting characters. I loved the story of the earthworm, how original, I even felt touched!

It's very refreshing for a movie with this type of subject matter not to have a dark ending. Thankfully this did not follow the stereotype.

In the wrong hands, heavy handed hands, this plot could have been played as soap, as hackneyed, as a total bore. But the director, with help from a very fine cast, presented pieces of a life without going over the top or insulting the audience by hammering in the point. This was a fine movie marked by fine performances. Nothing blew up, and there were no bad guys.

Besides the fact that I lived for over two decades in the neighborhood in which this film takes place, there was so much I related to. The life stage in which the protagonist, Samantha, beautifully and realistically played by Annabella Sciorra found herself was so right on. I was a little annoyed when someone told her she was depressed and she denied it as I thought someone "like her" i.e., artist, New York sophisticated, etc., would know she was depressed, or would admit to it, anyway. But, OK, maybe she wasn't so savvy...? Or was just too depressed to engage?

But she did embody so much of what I know to be a depressed artist, hell, a depressed person, at a stage in life considering where do I go from here, if anywhere? Maybe I should just pack it in. But she did find reasons to live, related to all she thought she'd given up and though it was predictable, so what? Who doesn't want a happy ending, especially these days? The bottom line is the script works. Really well.

Oh, let me not forget to mention the moments of humor in Before I Go. Subtle, yes, but in my book that's the way humor should be, especially in a film about depressed or otherwise Morningside Heights characters.

Wonderfully mature and well-acted movie. I've always enjoyed Annabella Sciorra, and I think this is her best performance to date. The material is darkly comedic and quite moving. Definitely an emotional experience-funny in ways I haven't seen many other movies be, and uniquely touching too. Seek it out if you can, I really don't think you'll be disappointed.

Annabella Sciorra is a one woman show here. Samantha has hit a wall, and can't decide whether to give up, or try to go over it, or if she should even care either way. This film gently explores what happens when we forget the point of living. It's a beautiful meditation on coming to an understanding with ourselves. Manhattan is as much a character here as it is the setting, but instead of representing existential angst as in so many films, it's a comfortable oasis of familiarity for Samantha - her natural element. Watching this film, I felt like I was looking into someone's real life rather than seeing a movie. I get it.