Movies about adult brother-sister pairings intrigue me because they’re not that common but often good. (You Can Count on Me and The Savages, both with Laura Linney, come to mind.) In contrast to a movie about a romantic pairing, the plot does not hinge on the binary question, will they or won’t they end up together. A sibling is someone you’ll always be linked to, even if, like the siblings here, you haven’t spoken in ten years.
Maggie (Kristen Wiig) reunites with her brother Milo (Bill Hader) upon the event of the latter’s clumsy suicide attempt, an impulsive act signified with a note that reads, “See ya later.” Other such grim humor makes it into the movie. However, former Saturday Night Live comedians Wiig and Hader are playing it straight here, even if Milo is gay, and even if he and his sister share a subversive sense of humor. That, among other things, makes Maggie feel a distance from her nice-guy husband (Luke Wilson). In the end, it’s not entirely clear which sibling is struggling the most, the brother who left for Hollywood but waits tables or the sister who stayed behind (in upstate New York) and seems unsatisfied with her comfortable life.
The combination of deep connections and long-simmering differences that arise in the course of the story make the story feel true. About the only thing that didn’t seem real was that Maggie and Milo, who care for each other, wouldn’t have spoken for so long. (The only possible explanation given in the movie would appear to have
taken place in the characters’ teen years, too early to account, or
account entirely, for a later estrangement.)
IMDb link
viewed 10/1/14 6:00 at Ritz East and posted 10/1/14
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