Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself

Starring:Gordon Brown, Julia Davis, Elaine M. Ellis, Owen Gorman, Shirley Henderson, Colin McAllister, Lorraine McIntosh, Robert McIntosh, Lisa McKinlay, Mads Mikkelsen, Martin O'Connor (II), Coral Preston, Adrian Rawlins, Jamie Sives, Mhairi Steenbock, Anne Marie Timoney, Andrew Townsley, Susan Vidler, John Yule
Studio: Sundance Channel Home Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

That rare thing, decency, shines out of Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself), a wonderful and dark-humored comedy about a would-be suicide. The depressive Wilbur (Jamie Sives) is the opposite of his big-hearted brother, Harbour (Adrian Rawlins), yet he remains irresistible to women--including Harbour's new live-in girlfriend. Director Lone Scherfig uses the gray-skied Edinburgh location in much the same way she did her native Denmark in the terrific Italian for Beginners; the gloomy setting belies the vaguely magical things that might happen to the characters. Scherfig knows just how to balance different tones (and in a comedy about a suicidal man, she has to), and she's great with actors, even in small roles. Special standouts here are the beaming Rawlins and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (King Arthur), as a stoical, chain-smoking doctor. How nice it is to see a movie that makes you feel good without coming on all icky about it. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

"Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, & I can take or leave it as I please" .......2007-06-05

Wilbur (Wants To Killl Himself) ranks right up there with the best of the suicide movies-MASH, Harold and Maude, The Virgin Suicides and Romeo & Juliet. I was kind of scared of this one because Dogma movies often make me suicidal (Breaking Waves, Dogville) and I had never seen Italian for Beginners. However, not to worry, it is a quirky little story with a really great cast. Never have terminal illness, suicide, mental hospitals, adultry and grey gloomy Glasglow been better handled. I don't intend to give away the climax and I advise you to not read any further because most of the reviews have plot spoilers. This movie works much better if you don't see plot twists coming, it was so good I watched it twice.

An emotionally complex, poignantly subdued, captivating film.......2006-10-23

Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself) is an emotionally complex film that is, I suspect, subject to a wide range of reactions. I am somewhat bothered by several aspects of the story as it played out in dramatic fashion, yet I still loved the movie. There is just something magical and ethereal about the film's atmosphere and characters that make it endearing -even during its most emotionally troubling moments. It's hard to even classify this film in terms of genre, for it is both everything and nothing. For me personally, it's a drama with just a few touches of dark comedy, but some will regard it as more of the latter. Wilbur did not make me feel good or necessarily glad to be alive; its poignancy left me rather subdued, actually. But - and this is the important part - it certainly made me feel something that stayed with me after the end credits rolled.

One thing this film doesn't do is to take you inside the mind of a suicidal individual. Wilbur's several attempts at suicide are sort of just there - they aren't funny, yet they are hard to take seriously (with one exception), and his behavior in general suggests very little about the seriousness of his intentions. More importantly, we never learn why he is suicidal - although one possible clue emerges midway through the film. I never grew to like or dislike Wilbur (Jamie Sives) to any strong degree. I found his brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins) much more fascinating and a much stronger character. Harbour is one of the few true good guys in the world, the nucleus of his family. Having cared for their father until his recent death, he now struggles to keep open the family book store and take care of his suicidal brother. Enter the waiflike Alice (Shirley Henderson), a single mother who comes to the book shop to sell the books that patients' families leave behind in the hospital (where she works as a cleaning lady), and her sweet daughter Mary (Lisa McKinlay). Harbour and Alice soon marry, and even with the emotional wildcard that is Wilbur, it looks like a truly happy ending is in the works.

This is no fairy tale, however, and the cruel hand of Fate steps in to change these characters' futures dramatically. As this is happening, the emotional interconnections between all of the main characters grow and evolve in really complex ways. I have some personal objections to the story as it evolves after this point, but I find myself quite unable to stand in judgment of these truly human characters, especially with the ending playing out as it does.

Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself), honored with numerous film festival awards, is a beautiful film - and Lone Scherfig's directorial prowess is made manifest by the fact that few artists could have pulled such a film off. If Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself) were truly a dark comedy (at least in terms of my definition of the genre), the film would not have worked at all - nor would an exaggerated sense of melodrama have done anything but skewer the film's effectiveness. Scherfig guides this emotionally complex story with the most subtle of directorial hands, helped along immeasurably by standout performances all around - especially by Adrian Rawlins and Shirley Henderson. This is definitely a movie worth seeing.

Brothers.......2006-05-21

Wilbur (a wry, sad Jamie Sives) wants out of Life in a bad way and he tries several ways to accomplish his goal: pills, head in oven, slit wrists but he never quite succeeds often due to his personal angel and brother Harbour (a terrific Adrian Rawlins).
Director and screenwriter, Lone Scherfig (the ironic, witty, intelligent "Italian for Beginners") packs "Wilbur" with a number of very serious topics: suicide, terminal illness, infidelity and proceeds to deal with them in a manner that can only be described as ironic: irony with a very light, though often tragic and humane touch.
Schefig's mise en scene is thick and heavy with the detritus of her characters troubled and out-of-whack lives and even when a woman enters Wilbur and Harbour's life...the winsome Shirley Henderson as Alice things do not get much better but only more complicated.
Scherfig has crafted a very sad, troubling film about people caught up in the past who never quite grow out of that particular quagmire of guilt, shame and remorse. "Wilbur" is a difficult movie to comprehend much less love but nonetheless there is much to admire here for anyone looking for the intriguing and unusual.

This Movie Kills Itself.......2005-06-18

When I got done watching this film all I could see it as was Lone Scherfig's love letter to Hollywood. During the course of this film he finds multiple ways to pretend that he's Frank Capra, only that he's a hack (and no I was not a fan of "Italian for Beginners" either). Let's examine some questions together, shall we? Why does this film contain characters who speak English when clearly this is a Danish director and this film hardly looks to be taking place in an English speaking nation? Why does the film contain a big secret that is held until the end at which point it is revealed and then the characters have to overcome this deception ("She's All That" anybody?)? Why does the climax take place on Christmas? Why does it also involve a fairy tale ending that is also bitter sweet so that the females in the audience can leave the theatre with two types of tears in their eyes? The answer to all these questions, obviously, is that he thinks that is what the American audiences want (and most of them do, but most of the time I feel bad for humanity). I'm sorry I just didn't buy the fact that while Wilbur wanted to kill himself his brother just happened to have a terminal disease. The fact that it was a matter of life an death allows the audience to get up on their high horses and proclaim that life is ALWAYS worth it, so that at the end when Wilbur discovers life and love we can be vindicated that we were right all along. But what if, instead of dealing with life and death, we were dealing with fame? Then the name of the movie would be "Entourage." Looking back on season 1 of that HBO show we can see parallels between Wilbur and his brother, and Vincent and his brother. Only "Entourage" is trying to be funny not righteous and the result is much better. In "Wilbur Wants to kill Himself" they take an outrageous plot and serve it to the audience with a straight face as a melodrama. That said I have seen much worse movies this year. For filming in Dogma style this film does manage to get some beautiful shot, especially some of sunlight illuminating a bedroom. I also like Shirley Henderson a lot, but I would much rather watch her in a good movie (like "Intermission") then dreck like this. I'm sorry but if Wilbur really wanted to kill himself he would have, it looks to me like he was just biding his time until his brother dropped dead so that he could steal his bride. 2.25 out of 5.

"You'll treat her just right for me, won't you?".......2005-05-28

Wilber Wants to Kill Himself opens with the troubled and disturbed title character Wilber (the hunky Jamie Sives), trying to gas himself in his kitchen. It's a grim premonition for what is to come, as Wilber tries to commit suicide several more times - once by hanging, and once from slashing his wrists in the bath.

He's full of pent-up attitude and anger; and he's so obnoxious that the local hospital's suicidal support group doesn't even want him attending their regular meetings any more. Even his older brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins) isn't quite sure what to do with him. He'd like to employ Wilbur in his used bookstore, which the two siblings inherited from their late father.

Harbour would also like to be able to go a week without Wilbur having one of his suicidal "episodes." The older brother has reached the age where he wants to meet a nice girl, settle down, and have a life of his own. On the advice of Moira (Julia Davis), the support group leader and hospital nurse, Wilbur moves in with Harbour, upstairs of the bookshop.

Meanwhile, Alice (Shirley Henderson), a single mum and janitor at the hospital becomes a regular visitor at the bookstore. She keeps any discarded books she can find around the hospital and sells them at the brothers' store occasionally, hence becoming familiar with Harbour and Wilbur, more so when she interrupts one of Wilbur's suicide attempts. She and Harbour get married, only to discover Harbour has health problems too, more physical than mental.

The perpetually grumpy and snarky Wilber is gradually drawn to the sensitive Alice. He doesn't much like other girls, but there's something terribly attractive about Alice. He also finds a kindred soul in Alice's young daughter, Mary (Lisa McKinlay), whose positive attitude works wonders on him. As Wilbur becomes more involved with Alice and Mary his suicidal tendencies start diminish and he begins a new lease on life. He even encounters a suicidal stranger whom he prevents from drowning at the last moment.

Set in Glasgow, the film has a gritty and pervasive realism, which lends itself well to this type of subject matter. And it's all a lot less dour and more watchable than one might expect. Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig instills her characters with a type of lovable, comical irony that effectively works as a counterpoint to the seriously grim subject matter.

The problem is that script is often too slow and it has a kind of a grayish, slow, and dull over all feel to it. The story takes too long to get off the ground, and Wilber's reasons for wanting to suicide in the first place are never really adequately explained. Most viewers will probably be annoyed that he's wasting money by needlessly chalking up the bill on the taxpayer funded National Health Service.

However, the movie is certainly worth watching for the appealing cast. One can almost believe that Sives and Rawlins are brothers, while the oft-used Henderson is solid, as usual. But the film isn't quite sure what it wants to be - It has the elements of either a weeping tragedy or a dark comedy, yet somehow finds a middle route that makes it neither.

Wilber Wants to Kill Himself offers an interesting approach to this controversial subject matter, and at times it is fairly didactic and edifying, but it's also strangely non-committal about most of the issues. The story is involving enough, but it doesn't really go anywhere until the last half-hour when Wilbur is forced to confront the realities of the world.

With his brother now dying and a woman with whom he has unaccountably fallen on love with, Wilber realizes that he must finally take on real responsibility, which actually comes as a bit of a shock. Thus, before our eyes we see him grow from a selfish, troubled, and petulant boy, into a conscientious, reliable, and dependable man. Mike Leonard May 05.

Average customer rating:

"Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, & I can take or leave it as I please"
An emotionally complex, poignantly subdued, captivating film
Brothers
This Movie Kills Itself
"You'll treat her just right for me, won't you?"

Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself)
Starring: Jamie Sives , Adrian Rawlins , Shirley Henderson , Lisa McKinlay , and Mads Mikkelsen
Director: Lone Scherfig
Manufacturer: Sundance Channel Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00068S3IM
Release Date: 2004-12-28

Amazon.com

Description

The chronically suicidal Wilbur and his good-hearted big brother Harbour 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 the hospital, where he meets Horst a cynical psychologist and his empathic head nurse, Moira. 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, 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.

Customer Reviews:

"Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, & I can take or leave it as I please" .......2007-06-05

An emotionally complex, poignantly subdued, captivating film.......2006-10-23

Brothers.......2006-05-21

This Movie Kills Itself.......2005-06-18

"You'll treat her just right for me, won't you?".......2005-05-28

Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Sweden ]

Average customer rating:

Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Sweden ]
Director: Lone Scherfig
Manufacturer: Nordisk
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000FT787O

Product Description

Sweden released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Surround), Danish (Subtitles), Finnish (Subtitles), Norwegian (Subtitles), Swedish (Subtitles), WIDESCREEN, SYNOPSIS: Danish director Lone Scherfig presents her second Dogme-style film, following her sweet and subtly brilliant ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS, with this English-language drama set in Glasgow, Scotland. The charmingly dilapidated used bookstore where most of the film takes place creates an atmosphere of comforting humility. However, the plot stands in direct contrast to that, laying a depressing blanket of helplessness over the generally likeable, attractive characters. Wilbur (Jamie Sives) does not really want to kill himself but he keeps his older brother Harbour (Adrian Rawlins) very busy trying to prevent his disingenuous suicide attempts. When Wilbur is rejected by the therapists at the counseling center, Harbour accepts him as a roommate, taking on the responsibility of preserving his brother's life. Wilbur's perpetual foul mood and misanthropy permeate Harbour's otherwise kind and hopeful persona. He even manages to ruin Harbour's wedding to a needy single mother (Shirley Henderson). To the extent that suicidal tendencies carry a certain irony, WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF has its funny moments. Even so, its truest strength is its fantastically emotive performances, and Scherfig's ability to make even the simplest gesture have a pronounced and weighty impact.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailer(s), Scene Access, Production Notes, Posters, Making Of, Interactive Menu, Deleted Scenes, Commentary, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Biographies, Alternative Footage,

Average customer rating:

"Suicide is painless, it brings on many changes, & I can take or leave it as I please"
An emotionally complex, poignantly subdued, captivating film
Brothers
This Movie Kills Itself
"You'll treat her just right for me, won't you?"

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself [Region 2]
Starring: Jamie Sives , Adrian Rawlins , Shirley Henderson , Lisa McKinlay , and Mads Mikkelsen
Director: Lone Scherfig
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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