Title: The Skeleton Twins
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Craig Johnson
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson
Runtime:1 hr 33 mins

What It Is: Maggie (Wiig) and Milo (Hader) have both just cheated death. One (Maggie) not getting as far in the process as her brother. After Milo’s little mishap he comes to live with Maggie and her husband Lane (Luke Wilson). Hopefully this will help Milo pick himself up after nearly killing himself. But what’s going on with the “happily” married Maggie. Why’d she try to off herself. Maybe this visit from Milo is more about her than it is for him. Old scars and new ones will be uncovered as the two siblings deal with everything from their mother (who abandoned them) to old demons surrounding Milo’s high school days.

What We Think: This is a well-acted piece. Wiig and Hader certainly have that sibling chemistry particularly in the dentist scene. There’s a strange undertone to the film. The entire runtime your just wondering what secrets are hiding behind the next corner. When they are revealed both Milo and Maggie start to unravel just when they are finally reconnecting. It’s a slow moving character study, but it’s one whose pay off is totally worth it.

Our Grade: B+,It’s that previously mentioned pace that kills this slightly. If it moved along a bit more it would not have felt so long foa movie that’s only 93 mins. Aside from that I thought Johnson was more than serviceable in this one. Hader has some true chops man. That guy played Milo without going into a caricature of a gay man. Even in full makeup you feel his portrayal is honest, and that’s the true mark of a great performance. Likewise, Wiig was sort of playing against type with a more subdued almost sedated turn for Maggie. I think that’s the highest mark for this film, that it’s leads are playing against type and it works really well.