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Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:76
Fresh:66
Rotten:10
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: Despite its morbid subject matter, Wilbur is a charming and often funny film.
Synopsis: The chronically suicidal Wilbur (JAMIE SIVES 'Glasgow Kiss') and his good-hearted big brother Harbour (ADRIAN RAWLINS - Breaking The Waves) are in their thirties, when their father dies, leaving... The chronically suicidal Wilbur (JAMIE SIVES 'Glasgow Kiss') and his good-hearted big brother Harbour (ADRIAN RAWLINS - Breaking The Waves) are in their thirties, when their father dies, leaving them with nothing but a worn down second-hand bookshop in Glasgow. Wilbur survives yet another suicide attempt and goes to hospital, where he meets Horst (MADS MIKKELSEN - Open Hearts), a cynical psychologist and his empathic head nurse, Moira (JULIA DAVIS 'Big Train'). Like Harbour, they believe that Wilbur needs a girlfriend. But even though women fall for Wilbur all the time, they can't get close to him. In fact, it is Harbour who falls in love when a shy and intense woman, Alice (SHIRLEY HENDERSON - 24 Hour Party People, Bridget Jones's Diary), enters the lives of the brothers. Alice lives a life in isolation with her little daughter, Mary. She supplements her job as a cleaning lady at the hospital's surgical ward, selling books that the patients have left behind. Little by little, Wilbur, Harbour and Alice become inseparable. Wilbur starts regaining his lust for life, Alice starts to come out of her shell, and Mary starts reading the thousands of books in the second-hand bookshop. Harbour has never been happier, but he carries a deep secret, that threatens to surface. -- Icon Film Distribution Pty Ltd [More]
Starring: Jamie Sives, Adrian Rawlins, Shirley Henderson, Julia Davis
Starring: Jamie Sives, Adrian Rawlins, Shirley Henderson, Julia Davis, Mads Mikkelsen, Susan Vidler, Lisa McKinlay
Director: Lone Scherfig
Director: Lone Scherfig
Screenwriter: Anders Thomas Jensen, Lone Scherfig
Producer: Sisse Graum Olsen
Studio: ThinkFilm
Reviews for Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
Lone Scherfig has masterfully combined rather dark, serious topics with a little humor and a lot of humanity.
Scherfig presents the message with a creative flair that will appeal to indie film lovers who appreciate well drawn characters
Wilbur is less about adherence to cinematic restrictions than it is about characters, and Scherfig was able to coax subtle, comic performances from her actors.
Although at times too low-key, Wilbur is a humorous and strangely uplifting film about death and dying.
More plainly dreary than morosely captivating... a movie that seems rather irresolute about exactly what sort of feelings its hypothetically meant to be conjuring up.
It's certain parts of the film that I enjoy rather than the film as a whole.
Amid the bloody pulp that is cinema this season, the director of Italian for Beginners offers a fresh look at the old death wish.
You can almost believe that Sives and Rawlins are brothers, while the oft-used Henderson ... is solid, as usual.
These fragile, self-destructive people, practically in spite of themselves, manage to charm their way into our hearts.
Latest News for Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
February 16, 2006:
Bondmakers "Mads" About Their New Villain
Look like the next Bond flick, "Casino Royale," will feature not only a brand-new actor as 007 (Daniel Craig) but a relatively unknown Dane called Mads Mikkelson as... More...
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