Wednesday, October 1, 2014

A Brother and Sister Reconnect at the Lowest Point in Their Lives

Movies that focus on siblings can be very interesting to watch in how those characters interact with each other after being a part of each other’s life for so long.  Although watching friends display deep connections on screen can be just as engrossing, there’s the factor of being blood-related that adds something a little more to the story a film’s siblings share.

In Craig Johnson’s bittersweet drama, “The Skeleton Twins,” he explores the unfulfilled lives of a brother and sister as unexpected circumstances bring them together.  In a film that’s emotional and a bit melancholy, yet occasionally humorous and hopeful, Johnson succeeds in making a movie that depends on its two leads to come out of their comfort zones.

Milo (Bill Hader) is a struggling actor who lives in California.  When he ends up in the hospital after a failed suicide attempt, his sister, Maggie (Kristen Wiig), whom he hasn’t seen in 10 years, takes him to New York to live with her and her husband, Lance (Luke Wilson), until he gets back on his feet.  During Milo’s stay, he and Maggie will begin to reexamine their sibling relationship and try to repair the damage in their lives.

It’s interesting and fresh to watch traditionally comedic actors take on dramatic roles, and Wiig and Hader handle that transition perfectly, just like their fellow “Saturday Night Live” alum Will Forte did in last year’s “Nebraska.”  Wiig and Hader provide heart-rending scenes that I wouldn’t have ever expected to see them do in their careers, but they perform them so well that it looks as though they have been playing dramatic roles for longer than they have.  They do, however, produce some funny moments every so often to break the stress that their characters are feeling.

After performing together on “SNL” for several years, the two clearly have enough of a connection to carry a movie.  Having them play brother and sister is a terrific way to show their ongoing ability to act together.  You can feel every bit of love and tension that goes between them.  

The two of them sink so deeply into these damaged characters that it’s easier than expected to take their previous comedic performances out of your mind and appreciate the new territory that the two are exploring with their acting talents.  

Ty Burrell, who is best known for playing Phil Dunphy on the television sitcom, “Modern Family,” also triumphs in changing over to a more dramatic character, his role being someone who shares a troubling connection to Milo’s past.  Although Wiig and Hader have a comical moment here and there, Burrell’s role has him completely shed his hilariously goofy persona for something much different. 

The screenplay by Craig Johnson and Mark Heyman crafts one of the most emotional sibling relationships I’ve seen on film in several years.  They’ve constructed a brother-sister pairing that has the two needing to fix their own problems and help in fixing those of the other.  Although they try to assist each other, they both seem to get into more trouble then they’re getting out of, and this helps in keeping the audience invested in where this sibling bond is headed.

Director Johnson doesn’t allow for the film’s emotion to become too cloying, but rather has it remain true to what the main characters are experiencing.  He places his two leads in a story that allows them to fully display unfamiliar dramatic talents, and steps back as they confidently propel the story forward with the unbreakable bond they share while performing.  Wiig and Hader might as well be siblings in real life.

Final grade: A

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