REVIEW OF THE SKELETON TWINS

2014 rating: **1/2

Begins somewhat like LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE without the little miss, and not much sunshine as Bill Hader’s Milo, a gay melancholy Los Angeles "actor", attempts suicide in his bathtub…

He winds up living in New York with his twin sister Maggie, played by fellow ex SNL alumni Kristin Wiig, who, after gaining immense cinematic popularity in BRIDESMAIDS, has been doing the quirky/indie shuffle ever since.

THE SKELETON TWINS reverses what used to be the jovially cliché homosexual character, and makes the straight guy more of the smiley cookie cutter. Although Luke Wilson’s abysmally average Lance, married to Maggie, is peripheral to the story of the siblings, either discussing their gloomy childhood or dealing with present doldrums.

Hader and Wiig are far more interesting than the breezy script, gift-wrapping manic depression for a sophisticated date flick audience. And while it’s not funny enough to be a comedy, and not serious enough for a drama dealing with loneliness and suicide, there’s a genuine heart beneath the surface: where both TWINS remain despite a cursed depth plaguing them.