37/365 Wristcutters: A Love Story

Starring: Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Leslie Bibb, Shea Wigham

Genre: comedy/fantasy

Discovery: The title caught my attention.

Summary: Zia (Patrick Fugit) kills himself after being dumped by his girlfriend and is sent to an afterlife specifically for peeps who commit suicide.  There he meets Eugene (Shea Wigham) and Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon) as they navigate their path through the afterlife visiting bars.  Zia finds out that his ex-girlfriend is there and he seeks to find her; which alters the path of his existence.

First Glance: It’s hard to describe just what I felt about this film.  A few words that comes to mind are: Boggled.  Tickled.  Interested.  Reflective.  The director chose some really interesting shots to tell the story, the general tone is summed up in the opening sequence.  You know just what kind of journey you are going to be taking. This isn’t to say you can guess what happens because you can’t.  In fact, you won’t want to.  You will be content to let it just unfold before you as you try catching up with the subjective nature of this film.

Deeper Look: One of the themes I will mention (but not spoil) is the one of suicide. There is no glamorizing but it’s shown very candidly.  If you feel overwhelmed by that topic this may not be a good movie for ya.  It doesn’t dwell though.  It quickly moves on to the love story & growth of the central character. (Behind the scenes girl says: Shea Whigham does one hell of a russian accent.) This flick is charming, something about it beguiled me.  Maybe it is the quirky, twisted nature that it took towards romantic relationships.

What I Took Away from this Movie: What you are chasing isn’t always the best for you.

Final Glimpse: If you can handle the delicate nature of suicide in a plot, this is a really interesting film.