“The Skeleton Twins” opens with one person attempting suicide,
another on the verge of tempting suicide and a third already having
accomplished suicide. This doesn’t quite mesh with expectations that
with Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Ty Burrell starring and the coming
attractions showing 2 possibly funny scenes, about a half a dozen funny
lines and one lip synch scene, that it is a comedy. By the way the funny
lines and funny scenes are really about all the comedy you are going to
get.

Milo (Hader) and Maggie (Wiig) are twins who have not seen each other
or communicated for a decade and after his suicide attempt she flies
out to California where he supposedly is an actor but is really a
waiter--one of the many clichés in the film--and all of a sudden they
are driving (?) back to her home in New York where she lives with her
husband Lance (Luke Wilson). They are, supposedly, being very active in
trying to have a child though Maggie is secretly taking birth control
pills and has not been exactly faithful to her husband which leads to
Milo saying “I can’t wait to be the creepy gay uncle.”

Talking about creepy it turns out that Rich (Burrell) who was Milo’s
English teacher, and now owns a bookstore, had seduced Milo when he was
15. There was going to be a huge scandal but something Maggie did--I
have no idea--is what stopped that and when the twins fall out. Rich is
now living with his girlfriend and his son--the latter isn’t
explained--and Milo wants to reconnect with him. Maggie starts an affair
with her scuba diving instructor, (Boyd Holbrook) and she meets an old
schoolmate, Carlie, (Kathleen Rose) who has an obnoxious, bratty son.

Talk about obnoxious, like most films today, especially with
“Saturday Night Live” actors, there is a farting scene. Are you laughing
yet? Also, like most films today, there has to be a sex scene. Along
with the obnoxious scene there is a complete waste of time scene with
Judy (Joanna Gleason) as the mother of the twins as if to explain why
the twins aren’t ‘happy’.

The screenplay by Craig Johnson and Mark Heyman, like the direction
by Craig Johnson, is all over the place. In addition they have too many
gay clichés coming out of Milo’s mouth like “Look at me, another gay
cliché,” after he attempts suicide.

Afterwards after overhearing my comment about the film to the
manager, said that Wiig and Hader will probably draw their SNL fans. I
don’t remember the last time I saw SNL but as actors who can handle
drama and comedy they both do an excellent job, as does Wilson, though
Burrell’s role is too hazy and unexplained for him to do anything with
it except for his last scene, another gay cliché!

Oh my comment to the manager? It wasn’t a bad film but a very boring one!