Wristcutters: A Love Story(2007)

Before I begin, let me just say that this movie review in no way advocates suicide, or self murder as it used to be called and should still be imho.  If you are feeling suicidal, please, get help!!  I know how hard it is to reach out and ask for the help you need, I tried to murder myself three times; the last time would’ve killed me if I hadn’t been found in time.  It was then, in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm and tears running down my face from all the pain, inside and out, that I finally asked for help.  I don’t want you to even get that close.  Talk to someone, anyone!

If need be, call the Suicide Hotline:1-800-273-8255

You are not alone, I promise.

Now, to the review:

I was sitting here, bored to tears, and I hopped on Hulu just to see what movie might catch my eye.  I scrolled through a bunch before I saw the grouping called Cult Classics.  It looked interesting so, I started looking for movies I knew.  I ended up seeing this really odd movie title: Wristcutters: A Love Story.  Wait, this was a Cult Classic??  Why hadn’t I heard of it before if it was good enough to be called that?  Surely, one of my friends has seen it before.  I’m going to ask Joshua today; he seems to be up on all the odd and rarely seen movies.

So, this movie is a dark comedy like Pulp Fiction or Juno – fair warning.  It’s also pretty weird – just like Pulp Fiction.  It stars Patrick Fugit as Zia, our erstwhile hero.  He is known for his roles in Gone Girl and Almost Famous.  I haven’t seen either one.  There is Shannyn Sossamon as Mikal, our leading lady.  She is known for her roles in Wayward Pines and A Knight’s Tale. I’ve watched bits of the first and all of the second.  Then, to round out our trio of leading actors/actresses is Shea Whigham as Eugene.  He is known for his roles in Take Shelter and Non-Stop. I’ve not seen either one of those before.

The movie is produced by No Matters Pictures, Crispy Films and Adam Sherman Inc.  The soundtrack mostly features songs performed by Gogol Bordello(never heard of them) including the song the actors sing or listen to so much it became annoying: Roof n Underground.  The rest of the songs were fairly weird too if you paid attention to them.

Now, the movie begins with our young lad, Zia, offing himself (their words, not mine).  His only reaction as he lay on the bathroom floor bleeding out is not that he was dieing, it was that he’d left dust bunnies behind the bathroom door after meticulously cleaning his efficiency apartment.  Cue the weirdness.

Zia narrates some of the movie by the way.  He ends up in a city just like the one he left, living a life just like he’d led before – only they’re worse.  Not one person every smiles, not because they’re happy anyway.  Not one person is happy.  This place is like limbo for all the people who have committed suicide.

Zia meets Eugene in a dive bar, and after sharing how they killed themselves – Eugene’s death is NOT something anyone should do – they become friends.  They go on a journey looking for Zia’s  ex girlfriend, Desiree, when he finds out she also committed suicide.  He had been in a relationship with her before he killed himself.

Anyway, they’re go off looking for Desiree in the countryside because Zia is sure she’s not in the city they were in.  Along the way, they pick up Mikal who is hitchhiking.  She tells them she’s not a suicide and she’s looking for the People In Charge(PIC) because she’d been sent there by mistake.  She didn’t off herself, she OD’ed.  Cue more weirdness .

Along the way to finding both Desiree and the People In Charge,  Zia finds himself in love with Mikal – she reminds him of the nice things of life that he was now missing.

I won’t ruin the movie for you.  It’s not all doom and gloom.  It’s more like watching a train wreck and not being able to pull your eyes away from the horror and mayhem you believe you’re about to see.  Relax, it’s not all that bad.

I’d rate this movie a 3 out of 5 simply because the only thing I really liked about it was the acting.  This is definitely a character driven movie.  Enjoy, or not.  Drop me a line either way if you do watch it and want to share your feelings about it.

Time to fly so see you all on the flipside and don’t forget your towel and sonic screwdriver!!