The Skeleton Twins sees Wiig and Hader play twins – Maggie and Milo – whose lives have not worked out as they’d hoped. After seeing each other for the first time in ten years, they rekindle their bond and try to support each other as their lives continue to fall apart. Due to their years of working together, Wiig and Hader’s relationship as brother and sister is hugely plausible. Aided by their comic abilities – and a little improv – the script (by Black Swan‘s Mark Heyman and director Craig Smith) is consistently funny and moving, revelling in the grey areas and complexities of the characters and laughing morbidly at the darkness that ensues. The characterisation is completely successful, the script’s main strength, and are carried off with aplomb by the cast. Luke Wilson’s as good as he’s ever been as Lance, Maggie’s husband. Initially coming across as something of a jock, Wilson manages to make his mannerisms comical but ultimately endearing, convincing us that he’s a nice guy, even if you don’t believe Maggie’s initial insistence. This transition is all the more effective when something serious happens to him. Ty Burrell, fresh from being the best human in the last Muppets film, plays against his Modern Family role as Milo’s ex-teacher in a largely serious part. In terms of awards ceremonies and Oscars, the film’s innate funniness may count against it, because comedies only get to win awards if they’re made by Scorsese and are about utter dickheads. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that comedians often make great actors (unsurprisingly considering their extensive sketch and stand up performance requirements), and being given more dramatic roles than usual sees Wiig and Hader excel. Ultimately the balance between a plausible ending and a happy one isn’t quite balanced as well as the rest of the movie, but his second film marks Craig Smith out as someone whose dialogue and gift for nuanced characterisation exceeds many of his contemporaries in American comedy. Certainly here the strength of the central sibling pairing is going to produce a strong response in anyone with a similar relationship, but there’s more to all of these people than that. Even the darkest of the characters has a moment that invites sympathy. There are many positives in The Skeleton Twins, some of which stem from what it is not. It isn’t reliant on improvisation (Smith apparently cut some excellent improv for character reasons), and manages to make you interested in difficult people, none of whom are obnoxious or loud. Its characters are adults, trying to make their lives work, and not eternal children. Its happy ending is not your standard one. The Skeleton Twins screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
