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Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
ThinkFilm Inc.


8.0

based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Italian for Beginners

MPAA RATING: R for language and some disturbing images

Starring Jamie Sives, Adrian Rawlins, Shirley Henderson, Lisa McKinlay, Mads Mikkelsen, Julia Davis, Susan Vidler, and Robert McIntosh

The story of two brothers who inherit a used bookstore in Glasgow.

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Lone Scherfig Anders Thomas Jensen
DIRECTED BY:	Lone Scherfig
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: December 28, 2004 Video: December 28, 2004 Theatrical: March 12, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	109 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Denmark / UK / Sweden / France

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Variety Lisa Nesselson

Given its impressive balance of charm and bite, it looks like anything but suicide.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Like its humor, the film's sentiment sneaks up on you, and so does the dramatic reversal that makes it something more than a collection of wry anecdotes.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Terminal illness, depression, suicide and one very angry young man: If there's such a thing as a kitchen-sink comedy, writer-director Lone Scherfig's sad but often very funny film is it.

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

The central trio of actors deliver engaging, pitch-perfect work.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

If we never do find out exactly why Wilbur is so intent on offing himself, it almost doesn't matter, given Sives' magnetic, star-making performance and the careful, elating mixture of comedy and pathos.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Call this a brooding comedy or a darkly whimsical drama, "Wilbur's" willingness to mix gallows humor and real sadness make it something on which labels do not easily fit.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

What makes Wilbur worth watching are its smaller bits: Mads Mikkelsen's hilarious performance as a taciturn psychiatrist and Julia Davis's equally funny portrayal of a needy group therapy counselor.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

The film moves so subtly, in fact, and so seamlessly between wry humor and the emotional wreckage of life-or-death, that it was with some shock that I found myself weeping halfway through the film.

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Exceptional black dramatic comedy.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A warm human comedy.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

A distancing cynicism has been slathered over the story's maudlin core, with the hope perhaps that between these two conventional extremes resides a genuine emotional truth. That may be the case, but "Wilbur" doesn't quite get to it.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

By the end, Wilbur becomes an unusually complicated character: We empathize with his suffering, find his selfishness appalling, enjoy his gloomy wit and frank self-appraisal.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Like most movies about death, the gentle, quirky Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself ultimately turns out to be a story about embracing life.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It's the dynamic between the three leads, Rawlins, Sives and Henderson - and the young McKinlay, who's like a miniature Shirley Henderson - that is this oddball and bittersweet story's pulsing heart.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Played by likable newcomer Jamie Sives, who resembles Colin Farrell without the scowl, Wilbur grows on you the same way this offbeat movie does.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A story about people learning to know themselves through relationships to others -- delivered with gentle, offbeat humor.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Directed and cowritten by a veteran of Denmark's no-frills "Dogma 95" movement, this is a quiet, no-frills drama with simple human values at its core.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

In the end, "Wilbur"' manages to look death square in the face and walk away laughing.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Full of life -- which is a very good thing to say about a story that turns on death -- wonderfully odd, and a gallery of perfect performances.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

A mood-switching meditation on love and death that goes out of its way to yank our chains.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Intended to be shamelessly heart-tugging and even uplifting in an odd way, but it's recommended mainly as an acting showcase.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

A kindred exercise in ensemble cheer and cozy humanism -- not as sentimental as it might be but cheerfully affirmative in dispelling the darkness of its premise.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Wants to be as shocking as its title, but it doesn't have the nerve.

Washington Post Mark Jenkins

Provides some wry chuckles, but much of it is as dark as a Glasgow winter.

Chicago Reader Anthony Kaufman

Scherfig aims at bittersweet irony, but Wilbur's suicide attempts yield neither pathos nor humor.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Too chicly depressive -- and, for the most part, too dull -- to bear.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Scanner G gave it a9:
This film was on Sky tonight at 2 O'Clock in the morning. It's just finished at 10 to 4 and I couldn't go to bed until the end. It's subtle humour raises a smile but, it's the acting that holds you to the end. I then had to check it out on the net so all I can say is, it needs to be watched. Perhaps it strikes a chord for some unknown reason as the story is close to the human heart and, you wonder what you would do in any one of the characters positions. Had me well and truly gripped and there aren't many films I can say that about. I only half recognised one of the actors yet I stayed up to stupid in the morning to watch it. Fell in love with Shirley Henderson as an actress, adored young Lisa McKinlay, hated Jamie Sives then changed my mind, wished I could be as brave as Adrian Rawlins. I'm out to buy the DVD tomorrow and force the rest of the family to watch it! Why didn't I hear about this film before? I am now going to keep abreast of all the new films being released. Thank you to all who took part in this movie.

Montse gave it a 9:
One of the best films I've seen in a long time -- hilarious!

Cameron S. gave it an 8:
Extremely, morbidly funny examination with grand emotional range.

Jay W. gave it a 4:
I usually love foreign films. But not this one. I guess that repeated suicide attempts - and these are portrayed quite realistically - just don't strike my funny bone.

Jill C. gave it a 9:
A very predictable, but charming film, nicely photographed and beautifully acted, with a breakout star in Jamie Sives.

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Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself ThinkFilm Inc.

Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
ThinkFilm Inc.