Films about mental health are already dealing with a touchy subject that requires a deft hand and sensitivity. When the film is a comedy, the difficulties are compounded and the need for sensitivity is even greater. The comedy-drama Welcome To Me manages to walk that fine line, driven by a remarkable lead performance from Kristen Wiig that proves her talents extend well beyond comedy. It tells the story of a woman with severe personality disorders who wins the lottery and stops taking her medication in order to pursue her dream of making her own talk show (in which she relives the most painful moments of her past, cooks food, takes naps, and neuters animals). Things go exactly as badly as you think they will. It’s not an easy sell to audiences, except that it’s wonderful and funny and heartbreaking in so many ways you rarely get from mainstream cinema. And again, the performance from Wiig makes it all worth the price of admission even if nothing else happened on screen around her
Released simultaneously in limited theatrical run and streaming at public libraries through the service hoopla, the film wasn’t intended to be a big commercial hit. It’s box office is in the thousands of dollars, not millions, and the streaming service lets viewers watch it for free — although the libraries pay to access hoopla‘s services.
On VOD and Blu-ray/DVD, it’s sure to attract Wiig’s fanbase and some general comedy fans, but it would need award-season attention later this year to really gain any mainstream visibility. The budget is obviously extremely low, and there’s been almost no marketing for the film, so it will have to find an audience through word of mouth and critical acclaim — both of which I’ve no doubt it will enjoy. Even then, it will probably be exceedingly lucky to break even somehow, and certainly doesn’t appear positioned to turn any profits.
But that doesn’t matter. This movie is clearly a labor of love, intended as a piece of art and a gift to those fans who seek it out and experience it. And as a calling card for its writer and director, it more than delivers the goods.
Screenwriter Eliot Laurence’s first feature film usually has just the right mix of humor and raw humanity to get it right. Director Shira Piven makes the right hard choices about not looking away even when as viewers we desperately beg her to, so we can avoid the discomfort of the most honest and painful moments. Wiig wins you over so quickly, and makes you hurt for her every step of the way, even during the more comedic moments.
What I loved about the film in particular is how it sets up a scenario where you think you’re going to be laughing at this woman and her behavior, but that’s not really how it plays out. You laugh the first time she has people reenacting shockingly personal moments from her childhood and she interrupts them because they aren’t getting it right. But as she keeps reliving these moments and her interruptions become outbursts of suppressed emotion, you aren’t laughing anymore, and you feel a bit sorry for laughing the first time.
View the original content and more from this author here: http://ift.tt/1JUCOf9
from health IT caucus http://ift.tt/1P8dWnx
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment