Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) Review

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Suicide is Painless

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006): 7 out of 10: Wristcutters is your standard romantic comedy about the joys of suicide. How does it stand apart from the crowd? Let’s find out.

Wristcutters: A Love Story is directed by Goran Dukić, based on the short story Kneller’s Happy Campers by Etgar Keret. The film explores themes of love, redemption, and the surreal nature of the afterlife, all set against a backdrop of morbid humor and understated existentialism.

The story follows Zia (Patrick Fugit), a young man who commits suicide after a breakup, only to find himself in an afterlife specifically for people who have taken their own lives. This peculiar realm mirrors the real world but is drab, joyless, and filled with oddities such as broken light bulbs that never get fixed. (In other words, a lot like real life). Here, Zia works at a pizzeria called Kamikaze Pizza, forming a routine in this bleak purgatory.

Zia learns that his ex-girlfriend, Desiree, has also died by suicide, prompting him to set out on a road trip to find her. He is joined by his quirky Russian friend Eugene (Shea Whigham), whose entire family also lives in this afterlife because of their tragic tendencies. Along the way, they pick up Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon), an alternative manic pixie dream girl who is searching for the “People in Charge,” believing her presence in this realm is a mistake.

The trio’s journey leads them through a series of bizarre encounters, including commune leader Tom Waits.

The Good

The Good: Wristcutters is a ridiculously pleasant and easy to watch fable that does not overstay its welcome and has enough quirky ideas for five films. Purgatory is very well realised with the broken and unfixable aspects of the environment symbolize the despair and futility that often accompany depression.

Wristcutters will remind one of many other similar desert outside of LA road trips from About Scout, Future World and even the obscure indie Bleak Future. But Wristcutters has an ace up its sleeve among the familiar elements. Tom Waits.

I had a girlfriend who was a Tom Waits groupie. I never quite got it at the time, but after watching Wristcutters I think I understand it a little better. There is something about Tom Waits that just raises everything else up. There is a cool about him. Not a look at me and see how cool I am cool. More of a zen just being myself cool that is very admirable.

All the acting is decent. With such a familiar story. (Boy goes on a journey to get back his dream girl but supermodel he picks up on the way turns out to be the real prize see also Cherry 2000.) the acting is solid across the board. The characters are all sorts of quirky, but not in a look at me kind of way. The entire film is like Tom Waits now that I think about it.

The Bad

The Bad: I am not a fan of trigger warnings, as readers of my blog can attest. But Wristcutters celebrates suicide in so many ways … Well let’s just say it is not a film for everybody. On the other hand, if you have a suicidal ex you would not rather hear from again, perhaps it would make a nice gift.

The Ugly

The Ugly: The ending is a complete copout. Seriously. It did not destroy my goodwill towards the movie… but ugh.

In Conclusion

In Conclusion: If you are not suicidal currently, Wristcutters is a fun, quirky time. You have seen this movie before, mind you. The suicide angle is fresh, but the plot is not. Tom Waits, however, adds that je ne sais quoi that takes it across the finish line. Though considering the subject matter, it is a shame they could not get Leonard Cohen.

Did the dog kill himself as well? This world generates so many questions.
I think I took this exact cab from Newark once.
Seriously, if you have suicidal ideation, this may not be the film for you. Wristcutters goes hard on the suicides.
Alas “EVE a woman with no SCARS” is a fictional book. I mean, it is a fictional fiction book. Let me try this again. They made it for the movie.
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