Review:
The Skeleton Twins is
an effecting character drama that runs the gambit, feeling in different moments
hysterical and tremendously sad.
The film is about twin siblings,
Maggie and Milo. They both attempt to commit suicide on the same day, leading
to a reunion after spending ten years apart. They get along famously, but their
troubles (and past conflicts) seem to find a way to muddle things up causing
Maggie and Milo to revert back to their inherent sadness (brought upon by the
state of their lives) and bickering.
The best aspect of The Skeleton
Twins is its ability to create very funny moments when the film is more or less
overtly sad. Writer-director Craig Johnson
takes full advantage of his great leads, relying on their comedy skills while
also pulling very strong dramatic performances out of them. There is a scene in
which Maggie and Milo lip-sync along to Jefferson Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now
(which some of us associate wholeheartedly with the film Mannequin). It is
a show-stopping moment, and among the best in film so far this year. It is the
kind of scene that makes a film. It also represents Maggie and Milo’s
relationship perfectly, from taking the lyrics to the song literally to the
strong performances from the actors. There is so much trauma in their past, but
somehow they continue to fight on – but maybe the song is a bit too optimistic,
as their overlying sadness is almost unrelenting. Thus, the scene is the kind
of big moment we expect from cinema, signifying that everything is going to be
okay in the end, but Johnson takes the scene and then shoves the characters off
a cliff (so to speak) dramatically.
The film is very intelligent dramatically.
Johnson is aware of film troupes, even those in indie film. The world is not so
simple. Johnson tries to take a more realistic approach to his characters,
giving them flaws that are not easily overcome, leaving the film to feel much
more like a drama than a comedy (despite its face value comedic casting). The
funny moments work to ease the tension and give the audience a release, but
they are undercut by the overall sad tone. Things do not feel like they will be
alright. There is a cloud of doom that sort of hangs over Maggie and Milo,
which becomes clearer as Johnson digs deeper into their backgrounds and lives.
They can feign happiness, but it never lasts. There are deeper rooted issues
that seem to have tragic implications. The film does start with them both
attempting suicide, after all. Those feelings do not just magically disappear –
especially when one’s mundane and disappointing life falls back into its suffocating
routine.
The Skeleton Twins, however, is
not just a slow trudge towards inevitable death, with life being a burdensome
weight that finally gets the best of our heroes in the end. That very well may
happen. Again, Maggie and Milo are not going to be fully okay – at least not
without working through some big issues. And yet, Johnson is not entirely unoptimistic.
The film has this feeling of hope that is mostly crushed in the beginning, as
the characters cannot seem to get out of their own ways (self-sabotaging), but
it seems to find a way through the pain, helped along by the lighter scenes
(like the two lip-syncing), finding a place by the end in which it does not
seem completely unreasonable to believe that maybe, together, they might figure
things out.
Hope is an interesting concept. Some
claim it is the evil that came out of Pandora’s Box – the downfall of man being
that he thinks that something better is possible when it really is not and thus
not accepting the reality of his own circumstances and never being happy with
what he has. On the other hand though, what is life without hope? For many of
us, how do we get through today without the belief that tomorrow will be better
(whether that is remotely true or not)? Johnson understands that The Skeleton
Twins is ultimately a film (which on some level is made to entertain) and thus
wants to give off the feeling that even in the direst of situations, yes there
is hope that tomorrow might be better and you can build from there. Johnson does
this even in spite of the film’s clear cynicism and commitment to realism.
The Skeleton Twin is at its heart
a film about two very emotionally troubled people who need help, and maybe they
can find that in each other. The performances are excellent and the drama is
handled very well. The comedy too is great. If there is anything amiss, the
pacing is a bit slow, but I think that is an intentional byproduct of the
overall sad tone. Overall, it is one of the better character dramas of the
year.
Technical,
aesthetic & acting achievements: While The Skeleton Twins is Craig
Johnson’s second feature film, it is really his introduction to most filmgoers.
It is quite an introduction as he handles drama, comedy and his actors very
well. He is certainly a filmmaker to watch going forward.
Composer Nathan Larson
accompanies the film’s tone very well with his score; although, I would say
that his work is mostly overshadowed by the film’s soundtrack. Reed Morano’s
cinematography at first feels fairly straightforward, and the shooting style of
the film is rather standard; however, there is a real beauty to her work. The
color palette she plays in works hand-in-hand with the overall tone and seems
to even inform the audience’s reading of the performances. It is excellent work
(much like her work on HBO’s Looking). Ola Maslik’s
production design too works very well with all the other parts to create a
unified feeling. Her work also provides a visual touchstone that grounds the
film in realism, as everything looks very naturalistic.
The performances in the film are
very good across the board, and the film is really built upon them. Joanna Gleason
and Kathleen Rose
Perkins are good in very small roles. Ty Burrell is
good as Rich, a man who may or may not have taken advantage of Milo in his
youth. Many years later the two still seem to have a connection. Burrell plays
Rich with this undercurrent of uneasiness, like he knows he is doing something
wrong but cannot help himself. Boyd Holbrook’s
Billy, Maggie’s scuba instructor, is almost the complete opposite. He is exudes
confidence. He does not care if what he is doing is wrong. He is a bad boy,
providing a foil for Maggie to bounce off when she is not sure she wants to be
with her husband Lance who is a nice guy. Luke Wilson
plays Lance with an unrelenting cheerfulness, something he does well. He is
seems to be emotionally much less complicated than either Maggie of Milo, which
to some extend puts them at odds (because, how can he understand them). Bill Hader is
very, very good as Milo. His performance is both very big when it needs to be
and also very quiet in the more dramatic moments. He has a real dramatic
talent. As does Kristen
Wiig, who plays Maggie. She too is very funny, but handles the dramatic work
with depth and emotional intelligence. The film is successful because Hader and
Wiig turn in great work.
Summary
& score: The Skeleton Twins is a strong character drama that features
moments that are very funny and moments that are very sad, equally and
skillfully portrayed through very good performances from Bill Hader and Kristen
Wiig. 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment