Is suicide hereditary? Can you inherit the suicide gene? Evolutionarily speaking – not a favorable mutation. Just sayin’. As a viewer, it’s hard to root for suicidal characters; I mean, I generally want the people on screen to succeed in their endeavors.
Maggie (Kristin Wiig) and Milo (Bill Hader) are directionless siblings. We meet Maggie with a handful of pills in her hand; she’s interrupted by a phone call. She’s on a “do not call” list. (What’s more annoying than your suicide being preempted by a telemarketer?) Not a telemarketer; it’s the hospital. Maggie interrupts her suicide to collect her estranged brother from a suicide attempt of his own. It would be funny if this were, you know, funny.
Bill Hader, in his best role to date, plays Milo as a subdued and unapologetic gay man. He’s the kind of guy who happily hits gay bars in search of cock and dresses in drag on Halloween, but his manic depression has zip to do with his sexual orientation, and it remains the controlling factor in his life.
Maggie has her own issues. She fills her own happigaps with empty affairs and undermining procreation. Lance (Luke Wilson) has no idea his wife is squeamish about becoming a mother. After Milo’s suicide attempt, Maggie invites Milo to live with she and Lance (Maggie and Milo both have easily dismissed dead end 
careers) for which I think Lance is amazingly big-hearted. Do you like being awoken at 2 a.m. by a drunk gay man monologuing in your bedroom? Me neither.
There’s a weird functionality in this dysfunctional tandem sib relationship. Alone, they’re both basket cases and mildly passable adults; together, however, they seem more in tune with life. Maggie is, by default, the more stable – in that she can pull off resembling a normal human most of the time– but she definitely has issues about sex and relationships. She has a priceless interaction with mom (Joanna Gleason) in which Maggie makes no effort to be anything less than hostile. It’s ugly, but it’s honest. And humorous.
Speaking of humorous, I kept wondering why I wasn’t enjoying The Skeleton Twins more. There are a handful of really charming adult sibling moments over dental practices, lip synching and Halloween and yet I regarded each with trepidation instead of joy. The reason is simple: this isn’t a comedy. All you have to do is keep watching and these mirthful actions all, in turn, will yield depression. Just wait.
If I had a bone to pick with Skeleton Twins, so to speak, it’s the film’s dicey experiment with ages. Milo desperately wants to recreate an old relationship with Rich (Ty Burrell). I believed for a while they were old high school buddies and was most surprised to learn this was a former teacher/student relationship. Oh. Um, hmmm, I suppose it’s possible – but Burrell ain’t that old and Hader ain’t that young. Then there’s the question of Maggie’s child bearing resistance. At her age, it’s not about “being ready” for children; there is no more warming to the idea. You try or your time is up. Forgive my blunt, but if you’re over 40, wondering is no longer part of the equation.
Skeleton Twins can’t be a straight up drama because the players are extremely colorful and it can’t be a comedy because of the constant specter of suicide. In the end, it’s both and neither at the same time and, in turn, I’ve rated it middle of the pack. Your result may vary.
♪I’m all messed up and in a total rut
Lookin’ at a dead man when my eyes are shut
Waitin’ for the sweet release of fate
Dammit, someone saved me; now I will be late
I like reliving hist’ry
And provoking ghosts
I like pushing the gratitude of my hosts
It’s a dead souls party
In spirit, I’m there yet
Give it time, a sec or two and I will be all set♫
Rated R, 93 Minutes
D: Craig Johnson
W: Mark Heyman, Craig Johnson
Genre: The danger of aimlessness
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Self-sabotagers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Self-denying self-sabotagers
♪ Parody inspired by “Dead Man’s Party”
