The Skeleton Twins (R)
02/11/14 16:47 Filed in: 2014
Starring: Kristen Wiig
September 2014
This review was originally tweeted in Real-time from the back row of a movie theater and appears @BackRoweReviews. Though efforts were made to tease rather than ruin this movie’s memorable lines and moments, some spoilers may exist in the following evaluation. The original tweets appear in black, while follow-up comments appear in red. For concerns over objectionable content, please first refer to one of the many parental movie guide websites. All ratings are based on a four star system. Happy reading!
One suicide attempt averts another.
This is a fascinating sibling (psychic?) connection…that they would be suicidal at the same exact moment.
The #MarleyAndMe scene is humorous.
Wilson’s commentary on “land mines” is graphic but apropos.
I’m sure every married man can identify with Luke Wilson’s comment. If you can’t admit it, you’re even more emasculated than you realize.
The siblings share secrets...a revealing scene.
Superb acting on the lip sync scene. A lot of fun.
It’s actually a bit frightening how well Wiig and Hader mouth the words to Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” Lots of rehearsal time or are they just freaks of nature at lip syncing?
“It turns out that I’m the one who peaked in high school.” Moving scene.
This is a really poignant moment of self-reflection, and one that’s sure to resonate with anyone facing middle age with nothing to show for their life but wishful thinking and waylaid dreams.
Final analysis: some amusing moments, but a far heavier story than the trailer intimated.
Rating: 2 1/2 out of 4. One of the finest brother/sister movies that’s come along in quite some time.
It really grieves me that I can’t give this movie a higher rating, particularly because of its exceptionally fine portrayals—Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Luke Wilson are all terrific in the movie. However, due to its unremarkable script, I just can’t justify a bump in my rating for this film. It’s not that the screenplay is awful, because that certainly isn’t the case. The story contains some decent dialog and several really good character moments, including the hilarious lip sync sequence and the humorous scenes in the dentist office. However, as a whole, the script, written by Mark Heyman and director Craig Johnson, is conventional and predictable…and only occasionally comical. An aggregate of well written and acted vignettes, the story never looses its entertainment value, and yet, as a whole, it fails to live up to the quirky, cutting-edge dramedy promised in the trailer. That unfulfilled promise to the audience could be a major impediment to the film’s success, especially since many viewers will expect to see similar antics to the ones Wiig and Hader regularly perpetrated on Saturday Night Live—although their chemistry from working with each other over the years is glaringly evident here. Another reason the movie might have a hard time winning over audiences is its identity crisis. The term dramedy was coined to define movies that contain a good mixture of dramatic and comedic elements. Although this film has several amusing scenes, the dramatic beats (consisting of suicide attempts, marital infidelity and a sex with minors back story) frequently overshadow the sporadic moments of levity, effectively throwing a pall over what otherwise could’ve been a feel-good flick. In fact, an honest appraisal of the film reveals an approximate ratio of 70% drama to 30% comedy, which is a radical reversal from the lighthearted romp depicted in the disingenuous trailer. Ultimately, the movie’s Achilles heel is its unsympathetic characters. We really want to root for these people, because they’re genuinely likable, but the story works overtime to make us loose our affinity and respect for them due to their irksome insistence on making poor choices. In the end, it’s just a shame that the cast didn’t get a more solid assist from the screenplay because the performances are truly remarkable, especially the ones turned in by screen siblings Wiig and Hader. Even though observing the interactions between these two stars is a treat all by itself, the movie would’ve been a veritable feast had it employed a story with more meat on the bone.