Sunday, November 11

Wristcutters: A Love Story
(2006, Goran Dukic)

This is the last of the CMJ related posts, it sure has taken me awhile to finish them all. I guess I've been wasting my time elsewhere.

The other movie screen I got to see during the event was for the movie Wristcutters: A Love Story. This film is a feel good dark comedy about love and suicide starring Patrick Fugit and Shannyn Sossamon. Patrick's girlfriend breaks up with him and he decides to end it all. He slits his wrists but unfortunately finds that there is no end only an afterlife that is strangely similar to his old life except much suckier(is suckier even a word?). In this strange purgatory limbo where everyone who has committed suicide ends he, he finds a job at kamikaze pizza. Soon he is befriended by a Russian punk rocker that killed himself by pouring beer over his electric guitar while on stage, thus electrocuting himself. Patrick soon discovers that his ex-girlfriend has also committed suicide so him and Eugene(the Russian Punk Rocker) set out on a road trip to find her. Along the way they pick up Sossamon, who claims she's not suppose to be here and is in search of The People in Charge so she can straighten out this misunderstanding. They also come across Tom Waits who is running some sort of magical hippy commune.

You would never think that a film about suicide could be so funny and heart warming at the same time but that's exactly what this film accomplished. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this film, hell(no pun intended) I'm even thinking about going to go see it again, it was that good. Unfortunately though since this is what they call an independent movie,this movie might not be at a local theatre near you, but I really urge you to seek out this movie and see it. After the movie there was an Q&A with the director, Goran Dukic. He had said that the movie only cost $1 million dollars to make, which isn't alot in the movie making world. In fact that's only one 1/20th of what Tom Cruise gets paid for a movie. Someone than asked him what he would of did different if given more money to make the film. He replied, nothing except maybe have better food on the set and some air conditioning since they filmed in the desert where it hovered around 100 degrees fahrenheit. He said the more money you have doesn't necessarily equate a good movie and some times it makes a movie worse, case in point(my thoughts not his) all the new Star Wars movies and any Jerry Bruckheimer movie made, except Transformers which I did like.

Now I don't want to give up where the movie ends up but let me just say that sometimes the person who you think your in love with really isn't the person your in love with. I hope that makes sense because reading that last sentence left me scratching my head. And one more thing, you can end up finding love in the strangest of places, even purgatory.

Wristcutters Official site
Wristcutters @ imdb
Wristcutters Trailer

Related Posts: Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten, CMJ Music Marathon NYC, Photographing Michael Diamond, Brad @ Highline Ballroom, NYC
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6 comments:

Unknown said...

DOn't know if you like to read as much as you like film but if you do: Wristcutters is a great example of adaptation of story to film. What a film and what a story!!
I have loved Edgar Keret from the moment he started writing stories and can recommend his collection of short stories "The Busdriver Who Wanted to Be God" (Toby Press $12.95)to anyone. The last story in this volume "Kneller's Happy Campers" is the story that Wristcutters was based upon. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

sounds like my sort of movie. and my sort of book.

hopefully the film will get an australian release

Unknown said...

Am sure you can get the book in Australia. Oh maybe you'll be able to see kerret's own movie Yellyfish, which is great!

msquared said...

love_4Books- yes I do like to read as much as I like film so I'll have to check out Edgar Keret. Thanks for the recommend.

Nursemyra-yeah I'm sure you'd like the movie.

Anonymous said...

hello love_4Books - do you have a blog I can visit?

and msquared - when are you going to let thomas out to play again?

msquared said...

nursemyra - Oh I don't know I haven't seen him around lately, maybe hopefully in a week or so, but I hate to say it I'm starting to run out of ideas for him and his adventures.

You can always check out all his past adventures.
The Ordinary Adventures of Tomas