THR: The Skeleton Twins: Sundance Review

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11:17 PM PST 1/18/2014 by David Rooney

Source: sundance.org

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig are superb as estranged twins renegotiating their complicated bond in writer-director Craig Johnson’s soulful comedy-drama.

If you’re going to juggle despair and humor in a story about two emotionally unstable, occasionally suicidal adult siblings who keep tripping up on the disappointments of their lives, it’s tricky to find a tone that’s neither too whiny nor too glib. But Craig Johnson’s delightful The Skeleton Twins gets it right. Warm, funny, heartfelt and even uplifting, the film is led by revelatory performances from Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, both of them exploring rewarding new dramatic range without neglecting their mad comedic skills. This one seems a strong contender to join the club of Sundance discoveries that went on to hurdle the indie niche.

The closest recent equivalent to what Hader and Wiig achieve here — both in solo moments and through the brilliant chemistry of their many scenes together — is Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ affecting performance in Enough Said. All three Saturday Night Live alums initially honed their instincts for comic timing and offbeat line readings in sketch comedy. Watching as they stretch unaccustomed muscles on the more serious side of the spectrum provides a special kind of pleasure.

Johnson, who previously made 2009’s True Adolescents, co-wrote the screenplay with Mark Heyman. While its repeat pattern of emotional crises followed by periods of calm could perhaps be called schematic, the film’s conventional aspects are entirely overshadowed by the richness of its central characters and their funny-sad complications.

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See Also a fireside chat with Craig Johnson and Bill Hader:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/sundance-bill-hader-kristen-wiigs-672548

Unitreview: ‘The Skeleton Twins’ Review Roundup: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader Film Earns Top Marks From Critics

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by Chelsea Regan | 9/12/2014

Reprint from Uinterview News

The Skeleton Twins, starring Saturday Night Live alums Kristin Wiig and Bill Hader, chronicles the reunion of dysfunctional twin siblings after a long estrangement.

Both Maggie (Wiig) and Milo (Hader), whose father committed suicide when they were teenagers, enter the film making their own suicide attempts. Before Maggie can swallow a bottle of pills, she gets a phone call informing her that her gay, aspiring actor brother is in the hospital in Los Angeles. She convinces him to come live with her and her husband – whom she’s cheating on – in suburban New York, where the two reconnect while wading through the muck they’ve created in their lives.

‘The Skeleton Twins’ Reviews

Impressed with Wiig and Hader’s dramatic acting chops, critics have praised The Skeleton Twins, directed by Craig Johnson from a screenplay he wrote with Mark Heyman. The talented actors give the somewhat formulaic plot of the film a level of authenticity with their easy chemistry while peppering it with their natural comedic abilities.

“Wiig and Hader make this work together through their tremendous chemistry–something you’d expect, given that they were longtime “Saturday Night Live” castmates and are good friends off-camera. But this movie asks a lot of them. It asks them to navigate territory that’s both funny and dramatic, light and raw, goofy and brutally honest. And they do it spectacularly. As we enter this season of big, important awards contenders that “matter,” “The Skeleton Twins” is a small, intimate gem that might truly matter.” – Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com.

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