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Wristcutters: A Love Story [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)


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A film that ultimately tries too hard...
Review date: 2008-05-19 Rating: 4 out of 10

This indie film production strings together a number of novel and quirky conceits and tries really hard to be something different but finally ends up being nothing much at all, with only just enough engaging moments to keep one awake until the end. The actors make the best job they can of the flat and predictable dialogue that meanders its way through the tangled mess that substitutes for a plot. But even their (by and large) excellent performances do little to endear us to any of the characters involved or make us care much what happens to any of them (or indeed happened to bring them to where they currently are). And while the film has some amusing moments, the story's messages are so over-stated and over-delivered, and its final resolution so predictable, that there is little satisfaction to be had from it overall.

All in all, one can't help feeling that ultimately this film just tries a little bit too hard to stay off-beat - but never really quite manages it!


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Reviews


Amor e morte
Review date: 2008-01-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

Most romantic comedies take place in... you know, the world of the living. They rarely star dead people. And not suicides, either.

But "Wristcutters: A Love Story" is not going to be tied down by that. This delicious, dark little cult film is about people who have committed suicide, and are now stuck in a limbo zone that is just like the living world, but less appealing. It's also dark, funny and poignant -- everything you want in a very original little indie movie.

Because of a breakup, Zia (Patrick Fugit) has decided that life is no longer worth living. He cleans his house, slits his wrists -- and finds himself in a strange twilight-zone with no sunshine, smiles, or appetizing food, and entirely populated by suicides -- think a Midwestern small town, but more depressing. He eventually gets a job, a nasty roommate, and befriends Eugene (Shea Whigham) a likably bombastic Russian rocker.

But then Zia learns from a new suicide that his girlfriend, Desiree (Leslie Bibb) has also offed herself. So he and Eugene bundle into Eugene's horrible old car, and start a road trip to find her -- picking up the pretty, feisty Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), who says she's been placed there mistakenly. The odd trio rattles through this suicide world, until they stumble across a strange camp in the wilderness...

I first heard about "Wristcutters" a long while ago, on myspace -- but in the months that followed, it just sort of floated in a limbo of its own. Pretty frustrating, but Goran Dukic actually makes it worth waiting for -- it's a quirky and dark indie comedy, a tragedy, and a love story all in one.

As you can probably guess, the movie's main message is that you should live a life worth enjoying, and love someone worth loving. Yeah, the core of it is a guy who loses the girl, kills himself, tries to regain the girl, and falls in love with the worthier choice -- all while wondering if love is still possible for those whose hearts have stopped.

But that potentially soppy message is wrapped up in clever little quirks in Wristcutterville (Zia works at "Kamikaze Pizza") or the various deaths of the people who live there (Eugene electrocuted himself to get the crowd to pay attention). It feels pleasantly, wistfully warped -- both with macabre humour (the hole-in-the-head cop) and delicious dialogue ("I'm not going out tonight. It just makes me depressed." "So, what you gonna do? Kill yourself?").

And you gotta admit, this postmodern Purgatorio is an interesting concept -- it's portrayed with a sort of low-budget magical realism. Suicide wounds, pale faces, bleak landscape, and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is a popular tune. It's pretty fitting that the place for those who have given up hope is a place where hope and joy are nonexistant.

It also has a very pleasant, poignant ending -- yeah, it seems like a bit of a cop-out, but somehow by the time we got there, I didn't mind. It ties in with the lesson of the movie, and the poignant little love between Zia and Mikal.

Fugit is a likably confused, sweet character who is just a bit dense, since it takes him awhile to figure out what a great, funny girl Mikal is. And Whigham -- whose character was partly based on Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz -- rules all the scenes he's in, as one of the few suicides who still has his vitality, libido and humour intact ("Everyone knows that man in back does not have c**k").

Sad, quirky and poignant, "Wristcutters: A Love Story" is an offbeat love/road-trip movie in the land of suicides -- it's a brilliantly warped little cult movie, and definitely worth seeing.

Worth staying alive for...
Review date: 2008-01-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

I'm not going to write a synopsis or a detailed review. I thought this film was really worth watching, and certainly worth buying. It's got a great cast (Tom Waits!), brilliant soundtrack, and an unconventional storyline. Just watch it - it won't kill you. Ho ho.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Julie Carmen
Jake Busey
Mary Pat Gleason
John Hawkes
Jr. Mark Boone

Creators:
Jr. Mark Boone (Primary Contributor)
Jake Busey (Primary Contributor)
Vanja Cernjul (Cinematographer)
Bobby Johnston (Composer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Lionsgate
Manufacturer: Lionsgate
EAN: 0031398226987
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC,
Release date: 2008-03-25
Universal product code (UPC): 031398226987
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Region code: 1
Running time: 88 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2006
Language: English (Original Language)

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