Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Despite it's questionable title, Wristcutters has as little to do with being depressed as the film has to do with hardcore action. Which it doesn't.

Ultimately, it is a love story with a sort of Wizard of Oz sense of adventure. The film follows two guys and a girl, suck in some sort of afterlife for those who have "offed" themselves. Zia is a poor sap whose girlfriend broke up with him which resulted taking his own life with a razor to the wrist, Eugene is an ex-lead member in a band who dumped beer on his guitar (and also owns a junker of a car with a black hole underneath the passenger seat), and Mikal is a girl who claims she "accidentally" got there because she OD'd. The trio set out together, but for their own motives. Zia catches wind of his ex-girlfriend killing herself and embarks on a search to find her while Mikal searches for the people in charge of this limbo they now live in. As for Eugene, well, there is no real motive for him, even though he sort of finds his place.

Each character has a different personality trait that keeps them fairly interesting, like Eugene's skepticism and Mikal's selfishness. Tom Waits also makes an odd appearance, but important influence as Kneller, a man who is searching for his lost dog. He takes them to his camp dedicated to housing bizarre people who possess the ability to create miracles. The group stays there for awhile, until word of Kneller's dog reaches them through his friend Yan. He tells them the dog has been found by a man named King, who plans to sacrifice himself a second time (the first being how he got there in the first place) for some kind of ritual. There, Zia finally finds his ex, Desiree, who killed herself as instructed by King's "calling," and continues to blindly follow his teachings.

Though Zia eventually finds Desiree, the film develops chemistry between Zia and Mikal to look shamefully on the interaction with Desiree, making Mikal a more obvious choice. The movie has an ending I'm a little uneasy with logically, though most fantasy films can get away with such things. The story ends happily, and keeps a good constant beat to it for the most part. The characters get broken apart more towards the end, but probably for the best. Wristcutters: A Love Story is a unique romance that charms with interesting characters and a blend of dark comedy with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor. Cuddle up to someone for this one.