It's a shame that the only original thing going for this film is the concept. Granted, it is a great and fascinating concept - a tedious desolate purgatory for victims of suicide but told in a quirky way. Fortunately all the ideas and jokes that we have heard a hundred times in other films are solid and work in a unique way due to the concept, though I wouldn't say it was particularly special. Despite the easy to grab fruit for drama, it does focus on its comedy values and follows comedy formats and clichés. It goes from a buddy movie, to a road movie to a manic pixie dream girl movie, where the protagonist meets a girl who goes against all the rules and they fall in love, the dramatic irony of which is that he meets the girl during his search for his ex-girlfriend - a relationship that never felt real in the first place.
It did take a long time for the actual story to develop but once it did, it was rather predictable as to where it was going and there wasn't much drive in it. Fortunately it does has a little creative spark in the third act by showing what happens to those who belong to mass suicide cults. I was begging for a twist in the story but that will do as a substitute. Granted, it is a very low budget film and it does quite show, if just through what kind of perspective they take to suicide, often comedically flashing back to reality to show how a random character committed suicide. I wasn't a fan of it at first but it grew on me. The cinematography reminds me of 90s British cinema with Danny Boyle and Mike Leigh's work, but sometimes it is too old for its own good. It blunts all the emotions it attempts to achieve. It's simply not intimate enough for me to feel the characters beyond the clichés they represent.
Most of the performances feel miscast or half-hearted or too forced (some of the accents are dire). Patrick Fugit in particular feels insincere and too awkward. There are some delightful cameos though, with the colourful Tom Waits as a highlight and Will Arnett, Nick Offerman and Mark Boone Junior too. The characters don't feel developed enough at all to be satisfying. However, in the evitable scene where the protagonist falls in love with the girl he travels with on his journey to find his ex-girlfriend, their bonding does feel genuine which is nice to see. The best part of the film is certainly the great soundtrack, built off of musicians who have also committed suicide among others. While it isn't too brave throughout, the ending went from really good, to irredeemably bad and then back to great which is quite impressive in its own right. Despite its flaws and missed opportunities, Wristcutters is a sweet little indie flick that's worth watching.
7/10
It did take a long time for the actual story to develop but once it did, it was rather predictable as to where it was going and there wasn't much drive in it. Fortunately it does has a little creative spark in the third act by showing what happens to those who belong to mass suicide cults. I was begging for a twist in the story but that will do as a substitute. Granted, it is a very low budget film and it does quite show, if just through what kind of perspective they take to suicide, often comedically flashing back to reality to show how a random character committed suicide. I wasn't a fan of it at first but it grew on me. The cinematography reminds me of 90s British cinema with Danny Boyle and Mike Leigh's work, but sometimes it is too old for its own good. It blunts all the emotions it attempts to achieve. It's simply not intimate enough for me to feel the characters beyond the clichés they represent.
Most of the performances feel miscast or half-hearted or too forced (some of the accents are dire). Patrick Fugit in particular feels insincere and too awkward. There are some delightful cameos though, with the colourful Tom Waits as a highlight and Will Arnett, Nick Offerman and Mark Boone Junior too. The characters don't feel developed enough at all to be satisfying. However, in the evitable scene where the protagonist falls in love with the girl he travels with on his journey to find his ex-girlfriend, their bonding does feel genuine which is nice to see. The best part of the film is certainly the great soundtrack, built off of musicians who have also committed suicide among others. While it isn't too brave throughout, the ending went from really good, to irredeemably bad and then back to great which is quite impressive in its own right. Despite its flaws and missed opportunities, Wristcutters is a sweet little indie flick that's worth watching.
7/10