In praise of Wiigs
Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 12:00PM
Manuel here asking: when did Kristen Wiig become the reigning queen of indie cinema especializing in fascinatingly messed up women?
Left to Right: A Deadly Adoption, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Welcome to Me, Nasty Baby (front), Skeleton Twins, Girl Most Likely
I just watched Diary of a Teenage Girl (Sundance review) and while the film is clearly a showcase for newcomer Bel Powley, I couldn't shake off the former SNL funny gal's Charlotte. And that got me thinking about Wiig's amazing recent roster of fascinating female characters, some of which deserved better vehicles (coughGirl Most Likelycough). She really was never going to rest on her comedic laurels, was she?
In other Wiig news, her other Sundance flick, Nasty Baby (read Nathaniel's review) now has a trailer and a release date (Oct 23). I'd embed it on here except all trace of it has apparently disappeared from YouTube and thus from all other outlets which posted it (guess they want to keep the film a secret?). But you can still watch it here.
BYOYNMS in the comments and tell me: Which indie drama Wiig is your favorite?
Reader Comments (17)
I wish she became the movie star McCarthy is. Bridesmaids was such a triumph for a studio movie involving women. I thought she would become a regular face in the multiplex but she continues to participate in shit I have no interest in and will never see.
I just saw Diary of a Teenage Girl last night, and I adored it. Such a smart movie. Wiig is great in every scene, made me remember how much I thought of her small part in Whip It. I hope we see lots more of her, Powley and Skarsgard, who was pretty brilliant too.
Exciting to see that Nasty Baby is a Sebastian Silva flick.
There was also Hateship Loveship, which wasn't very good, and The Spoils of Babylon and its sort-of sequel, whose name escapes me, both of which were relatively entertaining.
My favorite is probably Welcome to Me. She was so hilariously off-kilter in that flick. I wish more people had seen it. But I'm a huge fan - I'll see any of her projects, including Nasty Baby.
Let's not forget her supporting turn in Friends with Kids.
Yes, Troy H!
She was terrific in "Diary of a Teenage Girl." She's really doing a good job of picking the right projects to show off her chops.
I have yet to see most of these, but am a huge fan. She often gets overlooked in the praise for Bridesmaids, but she's absolutely essential to its success. I have caught The Skeleton Twins, and she was just marvelous.
I haven't seen all of her indie flicks, but for me DIARY was an absolute revelation, a leap forward. She got out of her natural vocal stylization and love-me comedy pacing, and found a way to play a character apart from her stand-up pesona. I think we're watching her learn as she goes, moving from comedian to actress, and I'm loving it.
"Welcome to me" is (so far) one of my favorite movie this year & Wiig should (but won't) get an Oscar nomination for her weird, moving, funny & complex performance.
I recently saw Welcome to Me and it's straight-up bonkers. Wiig is brilliant. I'll probably be checking out the other indie films of hers that Netflix offers sometime soon. I'm happy Wiig is making movies where she gets to be the lead because she really is talented. Most of my favorite movies of hers are where she has a supporting role though. Adventureland (where she's buried in an excellent cast) and Whip It (which I think she steals) come to mind as favorites.
Wiig is hilarious in Her! I laughed so hard ha ha ha
And she is actually a very gifted dramatic actress
She's turning out to be one of the most fearless, exciting actresses of her generation. She's a gift to any director.
I wish her performance in Welcome to Me was more talked about. It was just so bold and note-perfect and can't-take-my-eyes-off-her genius. She'll very likely make it into my end of year Best Actress slate (even if probably no one else's)
Aww, I loved her in "Whip It". I remember at the time a friend of mine couldn't stand her on SNL (this was basically when she was taking over the show), and I assured him that in "Whip It" she was surprisingly understated. God, I love that movie.
Love Kristen...I wish she had been nominated as Lead Actress for Bridesmaids...but in Welcome to Me, Kristen definitely takes her craft to a whole new level...just a matter of time before she gets her first inevitable acting nom.
I love love love her "Booze and Pills"
3rtful, thanks for the contribution, but if you're not interested in Diary of a Teenage Girl or The Skeleton Twins or Nasty Baby then that's sad. They are exceptional movies, two of the year's best.
And, yes, while everyone's been crowing about Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac being in so many movies, I have been all about Kristen Wiig. What a crazy 18 months she has had since The Skeleton Twins came out. I think she's even quite good in A Deadly Adoption, which was tricky ground of navigate. There was something so effortlessly simple about her performance in Nasty Baby though that really got to me. It's hard to be realistic when you're someone like Kristen freakin' Wiig, but I bought it entirely.
She's so brilliant in everything she does. I really loved her recently in Skeleton Twins :)