The Skeleton Twins

Overview

Dysfunctional siblings come together after ten years apart in The Skeleton Twins. Hardly the most original of storylines, but while it's true that this film could have easily fallen through the cracks like so many other Sundance dramedies no matter how well it was written — and make no mistake, this is a fantastic screenplay — it was to the film's incredible fortune that Saturday Night Live alumni Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader signed on to play the titular twins.

The two clearly built up a rapport working together on the famed sketch comedy series for so long, and watching these two wonderful comedians play depressed sad-sacks who find comfort in each other's comedic company is a joy. They're believable as the troubled twins whose lives come crashing down in unison, and a sequence in which they mime their way through Starship's 1987 hit 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now' is a stellar, funny example of their unmatchable chemistry.

Hader is Milo, so distraught over his nonexistent career in LA and a broken romance that he attempts suicide to the blaring tunes of Blondie. Wiig is Maggie, Milo's no less fragile sister, who we're introduced to with her own pile of pills in her hand and who lets Milo move in to recover alongside her and her husband, Lance (Luke Wilson). In their quaint hometown there is also Rich (Ty Burrell), a former teacher with whom Milo had an illegal affair during high school; their new-age mother (Joanna Gleason), who they blame for their problems; and an Australian scuba instructor (Boyd Holbrook) who Maggie has sex with to numb the sadness of her own disappointing life.

The real surprise of the film is Hader, graduating from more juvenile cinematic entries like The To Do List and Men in Black 3 and giving a beautifully crafted performance that allows his knack for voice and facial expressions to shine in the stronger material. His reading of a line where he equates himself to a "tragic gay cliche" hums with melancholy as much as it made me guffaw. Wiig, finally finding an appropriate post-Bridesmaids vehicle, gives excellently matched work.

The Skeleton Twins is a massive step forward for each of the principal talents involved and ought to make sophomore writer-director Craig Johnson a star, as well as propel Hader and Wiig into the big(ger) leagues. Perhaps more importantly, just like other recent comedies Obvious Child and Happy Christmas, Johnson's film proves that Hollywood needs to step up their game.