Massachusetts. Sarah is a teenage girl who is best friend with Jesse, an outsider who is constantly bullied by Chase in high school. Sarah intends to visit her dad in New York for the summer vacation, but is shocked when Jesse inadvertently tells her that he plans to commit suicide just a week away. Jesse's mother committed suicide 10 years ago, while his father Rick is an abusive alcoholic. Sarah tries to change Jesse's mind, but to no avail. But then an art University is interested in Jesse's drawings...
A sad and melancholic essay about the causes of suicide among people, "Just Say Goodbye" is an honest little film with several biographical elements interwoven into the storyline. An interesting footnote is that Matt Walting was 17 at the time when he directed the movie, making him one of the youngest feature length debut filmmakers. "Just Say Goodbye" starts with a "tragic bang": the 6-year old Jesse arrives home from school, pours himself some milk from the fridge and asks for his mom. He goes to the bedroom and sees her laying there, with dozens of empty pill bottles on the table. Jesse then just covers her with a blanket, pushes the bottles down to place his drawing on the table and just says: "Bye, mom." It is an effective and emotional intro, implying enough for the viewers to get the bigger picture. The main story works somewhat a little less: the constant bullying and abuse which a now teenage Jesse suffers in school, tends to end up rather banal, without much inspiration or ingenuity, whereas it also becomes too melodramatic and syrupy at times. However, there is one scene that is simply fantastic: after unsuccessfully trying to dissuade Jesse from his plan to commit suicide, including persuading him to call a suicide hotline, Sarah closes the door in his room and bashfully sits next to Jesse on his bed to say: "What if I sleep with you?" - "What?" - "If I sleep with you, will you change your mind?" The sheer spectrum of this scene is astounding, and it stands out as the highlight of the film. Some supporting characters ended up sadly cliche (Jesse's dad, Rick, as an abusive alcoholic; or Chase, who bullies Jesse only because he has a crush on Sarah) whereas the movie offers no solution to the problem, just an observation. Overall, it achieves what it sets out to be, and offers a dark peek into a grim topic many other movies dare not take.
Grade:++
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