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Rated: R
Starring: Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Shea Wigham, Will Arnett, Leslie Bibb
Directed by: Goran Dukic (II)
Wristcutters: A Love Story, a very quirky film with an odd title, has a lot going
for it, including an amazingly weird storyline, fresh, brilliant actors and some
very funny absurdities. The dark
comedy"s target audience is mature teens to twenties, and those with a taste
for the bizarre. It"s young angst with a
love story, but not a recommended way to seek a soul mate...
Zia (Fugit), distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend
Desiree (Bibb), decides to end it all.
Unfortunately, he discovers in the afterlife that there is no real
‘ending', only a run-down existence that is strikingly similar to his former
life, but worse.
In this afterlife, he
discovers that his ex-girlfriend has also committed suicide, and sets out on a
‘road trip’ with Eugene (Wigham), his newly acquired Russian rocker friend, to
find her. Along the way they pick up Mikal (Sossamon), who’s hitchhiking across
country in search of the ‘person in charge’ of this netherworld, because she
claims to not belong there.
The three
continue this journey that takes them through a strange ‘Dante’s Inferno',
filled with other people that have taken their lives in various ways. When a series of wrong turns leads them to
the Messiah (Arnett), Zia discovers that he has move to ‘live’ for than he
expected.
The film
takes you to an afterlife that’s bizarre and incredulous, a soulless place were
people and pets are wandering around aimlessly, much like that of Dante’s trek
through the inferno. I liked
director/writer Dukic’s depiction of hell, which gives the viewer a chance to
think about the consequences of taking one’s own life and the regrets of doing
so.
For Zia, ending his life was his way
of telling Desiree how much he loved her and that she would regret leaving him. Where if he had waited and tried to work
things out, then maybe Desiree would not have taken her own life in
reprisal. It’s all about the choices we
make that affect others, and the pain others suffer in the end.
Still, Wristcutters: A Love Story is also
a comedy, and Fugit runs into some very comical characters played out nicely by
a competent cast. I liked Wigham’s
performance as the Russian rocker. His
kamikaze support of Zia on their trek to find his lost love Desiree and the
funny situations in which he gets him involved are hilarious.
FINAL
ANALYSIS: A very good film with a lot of quirky situations aimed at the mature
teen, college student and adults that love the unimaginable.
Cool - I just saw the trailer for the first time tonight, and I had read the review earlier today and I was like - hey - I read about that! |
