Second chances are beautiful things. They are full of hope, and the promise of redemption. A chance to fix all past mistakes, or in the very least, to not make the same old ones the second time around.
Wristcutters, based on Kneller's Happy Campers, a short story by Etgar Keret, follows the story of young, 20 something Zia (played by Patrick Fugit of Almost Famous fame), who slashes his own wrists following an unsuccessful relationship, and finds himself in some sort of purgatory afterlife peopled by, well, people who've taken their own lives. Everyone seems miserable, in purgatory, or at least passively resigned to their fate, and no one ever smiles here.
Panoramic shots of the bleak landscape, heavy post-processing and a succession of spaced out, resigned characters underscores the futility of the position Zia finds himself in. Having done himself in once, he's hardly likely to chance his, err, wrist again, is he?
The hopeless setting of the film, though, serves as a fitting background to tell a story of second chances; of having hope, seeking redemption and finding love, in the end. The icing on the cake, for me, was the million dollar smile Zia flashes at the camera right at the very end before the jump cut into whiteness.
Oh, and there's Shannyn Sossamon (also of A Knight's Tale fame) looking hot in an undernourished and anorexic kind of way. If you're into that kind of thing, of course...
_____
Graphic novel lovers check out Pizzeria Kamikaze, by Etgar Keret based on the same short story. And if you do get your hands on a copy let me know. I'd like to bum it off you for a few days. Sweetly, of course.
