This is one of "those" movies. You know the kind - like a catchy tune the vibe of this movie stays in your head... the movie had all the chances in the world to be depressing, but it was far from it, there are only a few drama elements and the title is not deceiving, it truly is a love story and a beautiful one at that and also threaded with great humor, when I laughed, I laughed hard. And I would probably cry if the ending was any different.
I won't go into possibilities and impossibilities of metaphysical, because that's absolutely not what this story is about; purgatory, if you will, is only the stage, where the romantic play is performed, with that, it's innovative though actually daring, as it was probably obvious the box office would never explode from what 'Wristcutters' would make. In my opinion, the movie is so well made it would have been great even if it was stripped of suicide thing and it was just a plain love story. Oh and Shannyn Sossamon was so convincing, I think I'm in love with her now. ;)
Wristcutters: A Love Story
2006
Action / Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Romance
Plot summary
Despondent over his breakup with Desiree, Zia slashes his wrists and goes to an afterlife peopled by suicides, a high-desert landscape dotted by old tires, burned-out cars, and abandoned sofas. He gets a job in a pizza joint. By chance, Zia learns that Desiree offed herself a few months after he did, and she's looking for him. He sets off with Eugene (an electrocuted Russian rocker) to find her, and they pick up a hitchhiker, Mikal, who's looking for the People in Charge, believing she's there by mistake. They're soon at the camp of Kneller, where casual miracles proliferate. They hear rumors of a miraculous king. Can Zia find Desiree? Then what? Where there's death there's hope.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Captivating
Original and Surrealist Road Movie
When his girlfriend Desiree (Leslie Bibb) breaks up with him, the heartbroken Zia (Patrick Fugit) commits suicide cutting his wrists. He awakes in the arid Beyond, a dark place inhabited by suicidal people and worst than the world of the living. He finds a job in the pizzeria Kamikaze, sharing a room with a weird roommate. When Zia meets a former friend, he is informed that Desiree has also committed suicide a couple of months after his death. He befriends the Russian guitarist Eugene (Shea Whigham),who died electrocuted in a rock concert, and together they decide to seek out Desiree. While driving in a lonely road, they meet the hitchhiker Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon),who is chasing the People in Charge to clarify that she is not a suicidal, but a victim of OD. In their journey, they befriend Kneller (Tom Waitts),who owns a camping, and Eugene falls in love for Nanuk (Mikal P. Lazarev).
"Weistcutters: A Love Story" is an original and surrealist road movie. The pleasant story is weird, but a great entertainment due to the chemistry among the lead trio - Shannyn Sossamon, Patrick Fugit and Shea Whigham. The conclusion is excellent, open to interpretation of the trip of Zia. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Paixão Suicida" ("Suicide Passion")
Original, unusual, and yet encumbered by its own concept...
Goran Dukic penned this adaptation of Etgar Keret's novella "Kneller's Happy Campers" and also directed the film, a dark-hued indie romance with comedic and dramatic themes concerning an after-life for suicides. Patrick Fugit is very good as a new arrival to this separate universe for people who have "offed" themselves: a hot, dry, rural place where nobody smiles and the most interesting thing to ask is "So, how did you do it?" Fugit finds out his former girlfriend killed herself soon after he died, and so sets out on a journey to find her with the help of Russian pal Shea Whigham. They pick up nonchalant hitchhiker Shannyn Sossamon along the way (she's convinced she's here by mistake),eventually coming upon a desert community of misfits who perform indifferent miracles. Combination road movie/fantasy/love story is certainly spiked by its morbid side and yet is stifled by the unusual concept. We never learn the rules of this new game, the boundaries of what can be done and where residents can go. The conceit of a black hole underneath Whigham's car is silly, even for this scenario, and the movie comes to a standstill in the third act with a new Messiah who promises to perform the ultimate task. Still, the relationship between the three principals is shaggy and funny, and Sossamon (who looks like a young Joan Jett) has a sometimes-tough, sometimes-plaintive manner which is attractive. An occasionally interesting and engaging stab at something different--too bad the many, many producers felt the need to go with that title, however, which may have doomed the movie's chances at the box-office. **1/2 from ****