Rated: R
Starring: Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Shea Wigham, Will Arnett, Leslie Bibb
Directed by: Goran Dukic (II)

• Official Site

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.

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Jess   |2007-11-01 22:03:09 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! Reply 0   0

Carolyn   |2007-11-01 16:14:58 [smiley=cool] Reply 0   0

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