Search - Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself on DVD


Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
Actors: Jamie Sives, Adrian Rawlins, Shirley Henderson, Lisa McKinlay, Mads Mikkelsen
Director: Lone Scherfig
Genres: Indie & Art House, Comedy, Drama
R     2004     1hr 49min

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...  more »

     

Larger Image

Movie Details

Actors: Jamie Sives, Adrian Rawlins, Shirley Henderson, Lisa McKinlay, Mads Mikkelsen
Director: Lone Scherfig
Creators: Lone Scherfig, Gillian Berrie, Ib Tardini, Karen Bentzon, Peter Aalbęk Jensen, Sara Harkins, anders thomas jensen
Genres: Indie & Art House, Comedy, Drama
Sub-Genres: Indie & Art House, Romantic Comedies, Love & Romance
Studio: Sundance Channel Home Entertainment
Format: DVD - Color - Closed-captioned
DVD Release Date: 12/28/2004
Release Year: 2004
Run Time: 1hr 49min
Screens: Color
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 1
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Languages: English
See Also:

Similar Movies

Flickering Lights
Blinkende Lygter
Director: anders thomas jensen
1
   UR   2003   1hr 49min
Adam's Apples
Director: anders thomas jensen
5
   UR   2008   1hr 34min
Italian for Beginners
Director: Lone Scherfig
   R   2002   1hr 52min
Pusher Trilogy
6
   UR   2006   5hr 18min

Similarly Requested DVDs

10 Items or Less
Director: Brad Silberling
   R   2007   1hr 22min
   
Ghost World
Director: Terry Zwigoff
   R   2002   1hr 51min
   
Ladies in Lavender
Director: Charles Dance
   PG-13   2005   1hr 44min
   
A Serious Man
   R   2010   1hr 46min
   
Equilibrium
Director: Kurt Wimmer
   R   2003   1hr 47min
   
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Widescreen & Full Screen Edition
Director: Bharat Nalluri
   PG-13   2008   1hr 32min
   
Gosford Park
Director: Robert Altman
   R   2002   2hr 17min
   
The Life Before Her Eyes
Director: Vadim Perelman
   R   2008   1hr 30min
   
The Whole Wide World
Director: Dan Ireland
   PG   2003   1hr 51min
   
Up in the Air
Director: Jason Reitman
   R   2010   1hr 49min
   
 

Member Movie Reviews

Darwin H. (movienut) from BLOOMINGTON, MN
Reviewed on 3/19/2008...
This is the story of two brothers. Wilbur, who hides a dark secret from his past and makes several attempts to commit suicide. And his brother Harbour who divides his time between runnning a quaint little financially troubled used book store and trying to keep his brother Wilbur alive. It is set in Scotland though there are very few outdoor scenes.

If you are looking for wide outdoor shots of this beautiful country this is the wrong choice. If you are looking for a quirky little black comedy that will make you think and laugh at the same time then this is the right choice. Any movie that can simultaneously tackle three very serious issues without seeming forced and still end up making you feel good about life's possibilities by the end is quite an accomplishment.

The characters are all interesting and you end up caring about what happens to them. The acting is strong across the board, especially the two brothers. The supporting cast was also good with even the young girl who plays Mary doing a very commendable job. The only down side was that the characters speak with a decided Scottish brogue and occasionally it was a "wee bit" difficult trying to understand them.

Overall though an excellent movie that I could easily watch again. Give it a chance and let me know what you think.

This has been a movienut "no spoilers" quick review.
5 of 5 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

Transforming a Taboo Subject into a Tender Film
Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 05/03/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lone Scherfig is a Danish director with a keen sense of character development that allows her to create a film about suicide and cancer into a lovely comedy/drama that walks the thin line of credibility and taste with complete assurance and success. Co-written with Anders Thomas Jensen WILBUR (WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF) is a story that not only appears to be an absurd topic for a film much less a comedy (albeit a dark comedy), it is a tale about family, relationships, human needs, and love that ably touches us at every turn.

Gloomy Glasgow, Scotland is the setting (cinematographer Jørgen Johansson never lets us forget the impact of the weather on the story) and the primary stage is a Used Bookstore owned by brothers Wilbur (Jamie Sives) and Harbour (Adrian Rawlins), the only remnant of their recently departed father's estate. The store is a shambles with Harbour buying more books than he sells: he is that kind of a compassionate person. Wilbur has spent his life trying unsuccessfully to commit suicide since the brothers' mother's death when they were children. We slowly learn that the mother favored Wilbur and while Wilbur's presence hold a strange magnetic attraction for women, Wilbur is unable to partner. He tries suicide by overdose, hanging, jumping off rooftops, slitting his wrists, etc only to be constantly saved by his loving brother Harbour.

Wilbur is in therapy with a chain-smoking doctor Horst (Mads Mikkelson) assisted by a zany, man-desperate nurse Moira (Julia Davis) who even courts suicide victims such as Wilbur in her need for a man. Harbour runs the bookstore, one of his steady clients being Alice (Shirley Henderson), a nurse's aide at the hospital where she cleans floors to support her and her pre-teen daughter Mary (Lisa McKinlay), a committed book lover. Alice visits the bookstore daily to sell books she has gleaned at the hospital to the always receptively warm Harbour. When Alice looses her job at the hospital she is hired by Harbour to organize the bookstore and soon Harbour and Alice fall in love and marry in a Chinese restaurant in a hilarious scene organized by the waiter (Chun-Wah Tsang) whose brogue is thicker than anyone else's! Harbour, Alice, and Mary have found happiness and Alice insists that Wilbur move in with them.

The 'family' works (with Alice and Wilbur having an encounter which bonds them closely) until Harbour is discovered to have pancreatic cancer and reluctantly begins chemotherapy with Dr. Horst. The way this crucial development alters the lives of everyone is the climax of the story and while it is fairly predictable, the writing is so fine that to give further details would be an injustice to the viewers.

Each of the relatively unknown actors gives radiantly alive and complex performances. Wilbur would seem a difficult persona to tolerate, but in Jamie Sives' hands (and of course with the intelligent direction of Scherfig) this miscreant character has us firmly in his hand from the beginning. This is an intelligent and warmly tender film that explores the human need for love and for belonging. The only criticism is the lack of English subtitles: the pitch perfect Scottish accents manage to bury much of the bright dialogue for non-Scotsmen's ears! Very Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, May 05"
Bill Forsythe meets Ingmar Bergman
D. Hartley | Seattle, WA USA | 04/19/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Despite the quirky title, this is not a "black comedy" in the "Harold and Maude" vein (although the opening scene in "Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself" IS suspiciously similar to the opening scene in "Harold and Maude"!) The film is actually an interesting blend of tearjerker, subtle adult sex comedy and what used to be referred to as (forgive me) "heartwarming family drama" (but without the schmaltz). Think a Scottish "Terms of Endearment", with more believable characters and less mugging from the actors. The Danish director and her mostly Scottish cast does an impressive job of delivering a fairly large number of characters but still managing to make us care about what happens to all of them; the type of skilled ensemble work that puts this one in the Mike Leigh/Atom Egoyan league. Highly recommended. P.S. For the sake of those who have not seen this film yet, shame on all the reviewers trumpeting major "spoilers" in the first paragraph of thier reviews!"
Tough subjects handled with care
Margaux Paschke | New York | 02/18/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I thought it was a brilliant film but not a lighthearted one. I will not provide too much detail as it would ruin the surprises it has in store for the viewer.

This movie packs a seriously emoional punch and it stays with you long after you watch it. One of the main characters, Wilbur, is constantly trying to kill himself. After seeing how unhappy and selfish Wilbur acts, I was thinking that everyone would be better off if he just suceeded already. But I was horrified to later discover the possible cause of Wilbur's constant black moods. We learn that as a child, Wilbur's mother was sickly and constantly escaped her hospital bed to get home to her family only to be dragged back by her husband so she could survive that much longer. The dad told his two small sons that their mom couldn't stay home - it would kill her. In the middle of a cold winter's night, only Wilbur heard the mother knocking on their door. As she was only wearing a thin hospital gown and Wilbur was too afraid to let her in because he thought she would drop dead (his father's words were taken very literally in his child's mind), she froze to death outside their front door. This event changed them all. The father's guilt over what happened, Wilbur's guilt over killing his mother and his older brother's constant sacrifices at his own expense to hold his remaining family together.

Present day finds this family down to the two brothers, Harbour and Wilbur, and we all know one of them is looking for a fast exit. This movie is layered with so many emotional subjects that hit the viewer hard. This story is only too real as we watch Alice (the love interest) struggle with poverty and take care of her daughter all on her own, Harbour not being able to help his Wilbur as he struggles with his inner demons, and Wilbur being hostile to everyone as he lashes out, the male psychiatrist's father/son issues, and every character's loneliness. The scene where Wilbur is off-handedly cruel to Alice's lonely friend from her old job is heartbreaking.

No surprise that the story ends with just one remaining family member. But, it does manage to end on a note of hope. This one family member is not alone, he is rebuilding a family of his own and he owes it all to his brother. The bond of love between family members can be healing, even the deepest of wounds.

A haunting film that stays with you and I highly recommend it but you have to be in the mood for it.
"