Review of The Skeleton Twins (2014) by Lluvia A — 30 Sep 2014

I wasn't familiar with Bill Hader's work before this film and I am not much of a Kristen Wiig fan, but they both did a fantastic job in "The Skeleton Twins". Both heartbreaking and funny, this film reminds us how powerful the bond siblings have truly is.

Hader and Wiig make a great duo as MIlo and Maggie. Through flashbacks we see how strong their relationship is and through clues given in the present day dialogue we see why they turned out the way they did.

They are no longer close and barely know each other. Maggie gets a perfectly timed phone call at the beginning of the film and rushes to be with her brother. We soon learn they haven't seen each other in a decade and live on opposite sides of the US.

Maggie invites Milo to live with her a while. She is happy to have him, but is struggling with secrets of her own. Milo is angry and depressed. He always has been. Of course he moved away in order to pursue a dream that's not coming true and this adds to both of those factors.

In spite of this, he is funny and tries to get through life. They both love each other, but no longer being close they hold many secrets from each other. They both have things going on in their lives, but would rather keep it a secret from the other.

Milo is meeting Maggie's husband Lance for the first time. Lance is played by Luke Wilson who portrays him as a happy, go-lucky man who dotes on his wife. The film does a good job of following both Maggie and Milo as they rediscover their relationship and solve the problems they have presented for themselves.

Ty Burrel is in the film as well and plays Rich Levitz, Milo's former english teacher. He adds a complicated dynamic to the film as we find out that he and MIlo actually had an inappropriate relationship with each other while Milo was in school.

That's only part of the problems dealt by the suicidal twins. Joanna Gleason makes an appearance as the twins' mother who only adds to the problem as she was never a good mother. This is an excellent script.

With all the difficulties the twins face you can't help but wish they'll make it through it all.