Plot: What’s it about?
You know, life can be a pretty lonely place if you let it and you want it to be. I spent a dozen years as a “bachelor” after I graduated from college and, for all intents and purposes, had a pretty good time by myself. I wasn’t a recluse or a shut in, per se – but I enjoyed being able to say “No thanks.” if something came up that I really didn’t want to do. That and running a site devoted to movies does take a fair amount of time. I don’t think I’m drawing any parallels between my “former” life and that of Kristen Wiig’s character in Welcome to Me, but I’d by lying if I said there wasn’t a shred of something that we have in common. That aside, I have to say that I’m becoming quite a fan of Kristen Wiig. She was a scene stealer on SNL for several years and it’s amazing to think that she got her start on a reality TV show (the Joe Schmo Show). Certainly that led her to bigger and better things and it’s good to see that she’s branching out and not just doing comedy. That said, let’s get started…
Alice Klieg (Kristen Wiig) has some issues. She has medication to help alleviate those issues. But when she decides to stop taking those meds, well…things might be a bit out of hand. She lives her life as an addict of Oprah, wakes up at noon and is (literally) surrounded by a swarm of VHS tapes. Yes, VHS. However that all changes when she buys a lottery ticket and wins the jackpot to the tune of $86 million dollars. Not too shabby. She crashes the set of a local informercial hosted by Gabe Ruskin (Wes Bentley) and has the idea instead of watching Oprah, she’ll instead use her newfound riches to start her own show. The network, a bit pressed for funds, agrees and Welcome to Me is born. What is it? The show is about Alice. She talks about whatever she feels like talking about that week and it’s an hour of…her. Alice, having ditched her psychiatrist (Tim Robbins) is on cloud nine. Or is she?
There’s no shortage of talent in this film. From acting vets like Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack and Jennifer Jason Leigh to faces we’re accustomed to seeing everywhere like Wes Bentley and James Mardsen. But the thing is, it’s essentially a one woman show. Kristen Wiig is so adept at taking the ball and running with it, that it feels like everyone in the film is just watching her do improv. That’s not a bad thing and there are only a handful of actors that could really pull this role off convincingly. Is money the root of all evil or the solution to one person’s problems? I’m of the mindset that $86 million dollars will cause a lot more problems than it’ll solve, but that’s just me. That said, Welcome to Me is certainly an interesting film to watch and features some of Wiig’s best work to date.
Video: How’s it look?
The movie is shown in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio and this sports a nice-looking AVC encode. This is a colorful movie – in parts. The scenes from the television show really showcase the variety of color and depth used, though the film seems to have a flatness to it that I wasn’t really expecting. Far be it from me to judge a movie by its case, but even looking at the cover it does somewhat convey the look of some of the film. By no means is this bad-looking, but it lacks the rich, smooth and film like quality that separates it from something truly remarkable.
Audio: How’s it sound?
I really need to do some digging and see why some studios use Dolby TrueHD mixes, while the majority of the others use DTS HD Master Audio. Not that it really matters too much, lossless is lossless right? Still, the film is dialogue-driven and aside from a few tweaks here and there by the surrounds, the action is limited to the front channels. Not that it’s bad, but nothing to memorable either. A nice, solid effort.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Featurette – Sadly, there isn’t a lot of substance in this pretty by the book featurette with some interviews with the cast and crew as well as some behind the scenes footage.
- Theatrical Trailers
The Bottom Line
Welcome to Me is a good, but not great film. It’s got its flaws. Still, the performance by Kristen Wiig does make it memorable in the “this movie is good for that one person’s performance” sense. The Blu-ray offers up above average picture and audio quality, though the lack of supplements really make it hard to recommend a purchase.
