WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF is a dreary and uninviting drama from Lone Scherfig, the Danish writer and director of the overrated ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS. This maudlin tale opens with a suicide montage of Wilbur, underplayed by Jamie Sives, trying to end his life. One of the many problems of the movie is that, not only do we never care about Wilbur or any of the other characters, we never even believe that Wilbur has any genuine desire to die. Although the Grim Reaper is several times within seconds of arrival at Wilbur's door, Wilbur just seems to be going through the motions for the camera.
The story begins soon after Wilbur's father has died. His father, or so his brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins) claims, left the family's used book store to Wilbur. The inconsequential story has Alice (Shirley Henderson, seen recently in INTERMISSION) coming into the lives of the two men. She is a hard-working hospital orderly who has to scrub blood off of hospital floors. A single mom who works the evening shift, she has always taken her daughter to work with her.
One supposes that WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF is meant to be taken as a very black comedy in the spirit of HAROLD AND MAUDE, but, if that is so, it is certainly a laughless comedy. I don't even remember smiling.
"Why don't you just die?" a non-supportive member of Wilbur's suicide support group tells him. Later he is kicked out of the group after he dies and is then revived. They won't allow anyone in it who has experienced death.
I won't bother go into yet another gloomy plotline which has one of the characters developing a terminal illness. Enough already with the cheap schmaltz.
The movie is consistently unappealing. Insufficiently lit, the images are uniformly ugly and washed out. The depressing movie is as devoid of life and energy as it is devoid of much color. WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF is only for those who have been complaining that their lives have been too sunny lately.
WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF runs 1:49. It is rated R for "language and some disturbing images" and would be acceptable for most teenagers.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the Camera Cinemas.
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