Many an SNL alum has walked away with hopes of
turning their work on the small screen into big screen careers, but few have
done it quite as well as Kristen Wiig in such a short amount of time. Bridesmaids was sort of like her big coming
out party, but after refusing a sequel she's embarked on a number of smaller
projects that allow her to flex rarely-used dramatic muscles. The Skeleton Twins is an excellent example of what
she can do, while others like Hateship
Loveship and Girl Most Likely lacked the inventive spark we're used
to from her. Rest assured that is not an issue with the Shira Piven's
hilariously wacky and touching Welcome
to Me, a showcase for what Wiig can do when put front and center.
Unlike some of the larger films she's been
a part of recently, Wiig essentially carries Welcome
to Me all by herself. That's
not to say the supporting cast, which consists of James Marsden, Joan Cusack,
Alan Tudyk, Linda Cardellini, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tim Robbins, are
ineffectual it's just a statement on how good Wiig is. She plays Alice Klieg, a
lonely recluse who watches old episodes of Oprah on VHS, stays up late watching
shows on parakeets, and basically watching too much TV in general. In fact, her
television hasn't been off in 11 years. Diagnosed with borderline personality
disorder, Alice attends therapy sessions with Dr. Moffat (Tim Robbins),
although she's recently decided to quit her meds in favor of a string cheese
treatment. She has a best friend in Gina (Cardellini) but little else to her
name, it seems. That all changes drastically when she hits the lotto and
instantly becomes a mega-millionaire.
Rather than freaking out, Alice calmly
makes the decision to reinvent herself as a talk show host, relying on Oprah's
sage advice about self-confidence in the pursuit of one's dreams. Falling in
with a low-rent television network barely above the UHF level, she agrees to pay them $15M
to produce her own show, "Welcome to Me", so that she can talk all
about herself. And what a show it turns out to be. The segments are an
oddball assortment of reenacted events from Alice's cracked past, like
"Smelling Things Before They Happen" and "Someone Has Been
Tampering With My Makeup Bag". Or they delve into even darker, crueler
territory such as the entire week Alice spends neutering dogs live on air. All
this after she enters the show riding a mechanical swan, of course. The depths
of Alice's narcissism (she often reads from formal prepared statements) know no
bounds, and it never ceases to be funny, especially when the people around her
(mostly the network employees) are left stupefied by it. The reactions on their
faces looked exactly like mine watching Alice's unpredictable exploits; her
moments of serenity that flip like a switch to utter insanity. There were times
when I found myself yelling at the screen over her antics. A health nut
(sorta), Alice's nutritional cooking segments end with long stretches where she
simply sits down and eats on camera...in total silence, to stunned audiences.
Of course, Alice's show gains a following,
but popularity has the drastic effect of increasing her self-delusion. But it
also reveals the depth of her pain and loneliness, her extreme need for
acceptance. She falls in love with practically every man who shows her any
attention, from a sheepish infomercial host (Wes Bentley) to a young student
(Thomas Mann) who adores the show. Wiig is phenomenal here, showing
Alice's growing confidence which coincides with the depth of her mental
illness. We both pity her and root for her, but never once do we come to
dislike Alice for some of the questionable choices she makes. The film loses
some of its edge in an attempt to make sure Alice comes away smelling like a
rose, but that is a small problem when she's such an original comic creation
already. It's also good to see Wiig carrying the full comedic weight without
having to share it with a male co-star. This is Wiig at her absolute best, and
we can only hope she gets more chances like this to show what she can do.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
