Advertisement

Win tickets to the indie comedy of the year

Director: Craig Johnson
Cast: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Ty Burrell, Luke Wilson
Rating: M
Release Date: September 25, 2014

When a film opens with the attempted suicide of one half of an estranged set of twins, inadvertently preventing the other’s simultaneous attempt on their own life, you could be forgiven for thinking The Skeleton Twins was a hard ask.

· The new ‘Mockingjay’ trailer is here and it’s spectacular
· Is ‘Boyhood’ the movie of the year?

If anyone was going to pull it off, it would be the pairing of Saturday Night Live graduates Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, both of whom deliver astonishingly nuanced takes, deftly balancing wickedly sharp comic timing with heartfelt emotional beats that smooth the edges of the movie’s darker moments.

The sophomore offering from writer/director Craig Johnson, penned alongside Black Swan scribe Mark Heyman, The Skeleton Twins is a dramatic comedy for grown ups.

Wiig plays Maggie, a dental hygienist seemingly living the life in upstate New York, with a dream home and a wonderfully supportive, hunky and adorably dorky hubby in Luke Wilson’s Lance.

When her brother Milo (Hader), a frustrated actor waiting tables in LA, cuts his wrist in the bath tub and ends up hospitalised, Maggie turns up to take him home with her, despite neither of them being overly enthused by the idea of reconnecting.

What follows is a series of beautifully sketched scenes as the siblings gradually bond over their suppressed fear of failure, while simultaneously undergoing personal awakenings on the sidelines.

THE_SKELETON_TWINS_MAGGIE_MILO_FISH_15_3[1]

Their family history is teased out slowly, often leaving the audience to fill in the blanks in an increasingly rare gift of assumed intelligence, steadfastly refusing to moralise on their failings, whether it be Maggie’s infidelity or Milo’s unhealthy rekindling of an old and somewhat icky relationship with Modern Family’s Ty Burrell.

The Skeleton Twins will have you guffawing wildly at a perfectly judged lip synch dance off to Jefferson Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now one minute, then sobbing surreptitiously into your sleeve as the twins’ tenuous reunion hits some major stumbling blocks as old secrets spill out unwittingly.

There’s something to be said about comedians doing drama a lot better than dramatic actors taking a shot in the comic field.

Johnson and Heyman avoid the urge to tie up every loose end, so much so that, thanks to the emotional punch of the previous 90 minutes, one moment of unlikely coincidence in the dramatic finale earns its right to a pass card.

Incredibly beautiful, funny and deliciously smart stuff, The Skeleton Twins also has cracking soundtrack and swoonsome cinematography from Reed Morano that, alongside the stellar performances of Wiig and Hader, puts it firmly in the top bracket of indie flicks this year, with a mighty chance at cutting through to mainstream audiences. Make no bones about it, it certainly deserves to.

Win one of 10 double passes to see The Skeleton Twins. Email us your details to go in the drawer

The Skeleton Twins is in cinemas nationally from September 25, with advance screenings this weekend – September 19-21

Cinema locations:

NSW: Dendy Newtown & Opera Quays, Palace Cinemas Verona & Norton Street, Hayden Orpheum Cremorne, Randwick Ritz

ACT: Palace Cinemas Canberra

VIC: Cinema Nova, Palace Cinemas Como & Brighton Bay, Classic Cinemas Elsternwick, Sun Theatre Yarraville, Village Cinemas Rivoli

QLD: Palace Cinemas Centro, Arts Centre Gold Coast, Cineplex Balmoral

SA: Palace Nova East End

WA: Luna Cinemas Leederville, Luna on SX Fremantle, Grand Cinemas Warwick

TAS: State Cinema Hobart

Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.