We’ve been asking the question of whether or not actors known for comedic work should be able to make the jump to doing more dramatic work probably as long as there have been actors acting, so it’s likely that it’s time for us to finally retire that old debate. One of the most important aspects of being an effective comedic actor is being able to play silly things straight, and one of the elements necessary to being funny in the first place is compensation for a lifetime full of pain, so of course comedic actors are generally able to transition over to dramatic roles easily. As a matter of fact, this movie, The Skeleton Twins, seems to exist solely because of its director Craig Johnson’s confidence that Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader are so good at keeping straight faces during sad clown routines, that of course they would be perfect for playing damaged, suicidal characters.
Which is basically what The Skeleton Twins is, a movie about trauma and suicide. Wiig and Hader are playing a pair of twins here, who were all but inseparable when they were growing up, but who now haven’t spoken in 10 years. That all changes when Hader’s character tries to commit suicide and Wiig’s gets a call that she has to come take care of him though. One offer for him to move from Los Angeles to her New York home later, and suddenly secrets start to come out, past traumas begins to bubble to the surface, and a whole heaping pile of open wound humanity gets puts on display. Will these twins figure out how to get their shit together so that they can go forward as healthy adults, or will the pains of their childhood consume them and ultimately put one or both of them into an early grave? I’m not going to tell you the answer to that. You have to watch the movie to find out.
We can talk a bit about the themes that get explored as the movie works toward an answer to that question though. Hader’s character has dreams of being a famous actor that have gone unfulfilled, which has left him feeling like a failure professionally, and to compound those problems he’s also been struggling personally, as he’s clearly been aware of the fact that he’s a gay man for most of his life, but even as an adult he still hasn’t seemed to have been able to figure out how to act on that in any healthy way. Wiig’s character’s problems seem to stem from the fact that she’s become so comfortable with trauma and chaos that the normal life of monogamy and comfort that she currently finds herself in has started to make her itchy, and that itchiness has led to a series of self-destructive decisions that see her standing on the precipice of committing to an act of serious self-harm. For both of these characters, the bulk of their problems clearly stem from the suicide of their father, a man who was the central figure in both of their developments as people, and whose absence is so palpable throughout the film that the lack of him being around is almost a character unto itself.
Thanks to the pain that The Skeleton Twins’ titular characters are working through, and thanks to their penchant for making poor life decisions, the film is able to shine a light on quite a few uncomfortable aspects of human nature that most audiences should have no trouble relating to. The Skelton Twins has a lot to say on the subject of people who are full of shit, and people whose self-obsession has crippled their chances at relating with those around them in healthy ways. It’s even able to offer up a little insight as far as the secret to living a happy life is concerned. It would appear that the true path to happiness is to stop worrying so much about yourself and to instead aim your efforts at improving the lives of the people around you. Insightful. Insight isn’t all the movie has to offer up though—don’t worry—it still features Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader in prominent roles, so, in addition to being deep, it’s also frequently entertaining, and often (darkly) hilarious.
Which brings us back around to the acting. I said that the film was seemingly made out of a confidence that Wiig and Hader would thrive in a more dramatic environment because everything it is appears to have been designed as a showcase for their performances, which are both pretty dang good. Hader's especially though, as he’s playing a character who speaks differently and carries himself differently than any other on-screen persona we’ve seen him use to date, and not only is he able to make this character believable, he manages to full-on disappear into him completely. Wiig is giving a less showy performance, but maybe a more difficult one, as we’re given less reason to identify with her character, and she has less personality ticks to fall back on. While Hader’s twin makes decisions that hurt himself, her twin makes decisions that also hurt the people around her, and she acts so compulsively that it can be a challenge not to give up on her before her character arc is completed. A lesser actress would have lost the audience by the end, but Wiig brings such a cache of likability with her that you can’t help but still try to understand where she’s coming from, even when she’s being a total shit. Special mention should also be made of Luke Wilson, who plays Wiig’s husband, and who is absolutely hilarious as the most laid back, milquetoast, white bread dude on the planet. It’s the role he was born to play.
Probably the most important asset this film brings to the table is the chemistry that exists between Wiig and Hader though, which they’ve built up though the many projects they’ve done together over the years and which is just as powerful here as it’s ever been before. Even though much of the film’s content can be depressing and uncomfortable to watch, and even though its execution gets heavy-handed and schmaltzy more often than you’d like (the constant flashbacks to images of childhood and a shadowy father figure are exceptionally good at generating groans and eye-rolls), it’s still worth watching just for the scenes where these two actors share the screen together and you can almost visually perceive a river of connection flowing between them. As engaging as much of its drama is, The Skeleton Twins is still at its best when Wiig and Hader are just getting stoned off nitrous oxide and trying to make each other laugh with fart noises.
