Melanie Wolf
Contributing Writer
Led by powerful performances of Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, “The Skeleton Twins” is an indie family drama that will make you cry and laugh at the same time.
Wiig and Hader play troubled brother and sister that have been grappling with the emotional fallout of their messed-up family for years. Their mother (Joanna Gleason) is a ditzy New Age healer who has her head buried in the sand when it comes to her children’s problems. While their father committed suicide when the twins were fourteen – an exit from this world that is all too reasonable for the now miserable and grown up duo. Actually, in the opening moments of the film, Maggie is prevented from swallowing a fistful of pills by a call informing her that her brother Milo has just tried to kill himself by slitting his wrists in the bathtub. Did I mention that “The Skeleton Twins” is a comedy?
Well, it is and it isn’t. Estranged siblings, Milo and Maggie have not spoken for a decade but are forced to reunite after they both coincidentally cheat death on the same day. The “Gruesome Twosome” slowly begins to realize that as much as they cannot stand one another, they are the only ones that truly understand each other. The two broken souls are secretly hoping the other might have the glue to piece themselves back together.
Milo, a gay, depressed aspiring actor in Los Angeles, returns home to New York’s Rockland County and moves in with Maggie and her sunshiny, frat-boyish husband, Lance (Luke Wilson). Both Maggie and Milo are masters at keeping secrets and stopping whatever happiness they manage to accidentally bring into their lives. But for a while at least, they fall back into being the same kids who shared secrets, played dress-up, and finished each other’s sarcastic and witty jokes. In the film’s funniest scene, Wiig and Hader do a lip-synch duet to Starship’s schmaltzy anthem ”Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” As awful as that reads in print, it is impossible not to smile while watching it on the screen.
Of course, whatever caused Milo and Maggie to stop talking is bound to resurface later in the film. And right on cue, it does. However, that is the main problem with the film. There are too many beats and ideas formed by director/co-writer Crag Johnson (True Adolescents) that are at times confusing since they were not highly defined and presented within the film. Still, the costars bring the film to life with their uplifting performances and amazing chemistry – something you would expect since they are longtime “Saturday Night Live” cast members and are good friends off-camera.
“Skeleton Twins” stands out among larger film titles in its ability to tell a dark, but also loving family tale that does not divert from its core message of the bond of siblings, a topic that hits home with many viewers. “Skeleton Twins” is a must watch that will leave you smiling.
