Release Date: June 16, 2015
Rating: R
Running Time: 88 Minutes
When Alice Klieg (Kristen Wiig) wins the Mega-millions lottery, she quits her psychiatric meds and buys her own talk show. Inspired by the immortal Oprah, she broadcasts her dirty laundry as both a form of exhibitionism and a platform to share her peculiar views on everything from nutrition to relationships to neutering pets.
WELCOME TO ME is produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Gary Sanchez Productions (Bachelorette, Get Hard, Comedy Central’s Drunk History), Kristen Wiig, Jessica Elbaum, Marina Grasic, and Aaron L. Gilbert’s Bron Studios.
I love watching Kristen Wiig’s indie projects because every time, it’s such a true testament to the chances Kristen is willing to take to tell both peculiar stories and stories viewers didn’t know they needed. This is on the peculiar side, as Alice, who has a borderline personality disorder, wins the lottery and decides to turn her dream of being the next Oprah into a reality. It’s just as bizarre and sad as one would expect, of course filled with many laughs throughout. Many awkward laughs as by the end of the film, you feel like you know Alice but still don’t quite know her at all and that unpredictability is all throughout the film. I’d call this a dark comedy even though death isn’t involved. It’s just very moody. And sad, did I say sad?
Alice has a lot of growing to do and money didn’t change that fact. Because of money, she was enabled to take a chance on a dream but it didn’t really help her internally (there really wasn’t much character growth) which just goes to show that money doesn’t solve every problem. The human experience is still the human experience no matter how much money one has. In this regard, the story was great. But aside from this message, I can’t say that I got a whole lot out of this movie. It was funny and again, awkward to see how winning affected those around her (her best friend and the people who worked on her show and had jobs because of her) but that’s about as far as I got out of this. It’s such a strange story, a great look into the life of an oddball lottery winner but nothing more than that. So, if you have time to kill, pop this movie in. Otherwise, this isn’t one Wiig indie I’d go out of my way to see.
Featurette (9 minutes) – In the featurette, the cast and crew talk about the film and if you’ve watched the movie, there’s really nothing for you to see here. If you haven’t seen the movie and want a brief look at what to expect, I can see someone watching this beforehand. Otherwise, it’s a miss.
Appearing in this Feature:
Cast Members, Kristen Wiig, Linda Cardellini, Joan Cusack, James Marsden, Wes Bentley
Writer, Eliot Laurence
Director, Shira Piven
Producers, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jessica Elbaum
Own Welcome to Me on Blu-ray and DVD today.