3.5 stars out of 5
As we adjust to yet another new SNL cast, we get nostalgic for not-ready-for-prime-time players past. So sure I was going to see Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig, the strongest male and female cast members of recent vintage, in their new movie. Heck, I was just happy that Hader had graduated beyond cellphone commercials.
Even though this is a drama, you will be reminded of SNL from time to time. It’s hard not to think of Stefon when we meet Hader’s character Milo, turned down several notches. And Hader and Wiig engage in a few “bits” that you could imagine on the show.
But the pervading mood here is depression: How did we get to this point in our lives and is there any escape? Hader and Wiig are the titular twins who haven’t spoken in a decade. After a suicide attempt in L.A., Milo comes to live with sister Maggie and her husband Lance in upstate New York. Spoiler alert: Maggie has problems too.
We get strong performances throughout. Luke Wilson, as Lance, is dependably excellent. (Since Enlightened, Luke may have surpassed Owen in my Wilson Brother Rankings.) The character could’ve been a cliché as a surface-level dumb guy not quite satisfying his wife, but Wilson plays him with subtlety and makes Lance very likable. We root for him.
Ty Burrell does decent work as a man from Milo’s past. (Talk about your Modern Families.)
But I was particularly impressed with Hader and Wiig. They admirably handle these dramatic roles, not overplaying them. And I believed their sibling relationship. There can be a weirdness and sadness with this person you’ve known all your life, when that life hasn’t turned out quite as you expected. I will admit to choking up a time or two.
And yet, something’s missing, or maybe there’s too much here. As realistic as the setting is, and many of the emotions, I felt like the writing let the movie down now and again. There are probably too many instances of Extreme Personal Trauma to deal with in a 90-minute film. It’s odd, this is produced by mumblecore kings the Duplass brothers, yet it leans toward melodrama. I didn’t buy the ending, either.
Kudos to Hader and Wiig, I think that’s the important thing here. I’d happily see them in a another movie together. Ooh, do you think she’ll show up when he hosts SNL this weekend? Not that I’m underwhelmed with the current cast or anything.
Jack Silbert, curator