WELCOME TO ME Trailer
An interesting concept has presented itself in this new comedy. A person with Borderline Personality Disorder wins the mega-millions lottery, subsequently stops her medication and buys her own talk show. As per the saying, a lot of money DOES NOT make you happy. Science suggests $75,000 but variables and individual perspectives exist. Either way, it’s a bad idea to buy your own talk show. This is a trailer for Welcome to Me.
Directed by Shira Piven, this drama-comedy stars Kristen Wiig and James Marsden. One thing this movie does well is present terrible life ideas for people who don’t know what to do with money. Alice Krieg (Wiig), for example, moves into a reservation casino. Casinos by their very nature exist to drain money with speed and efficiency. With her mental disorder, Alice is a valuable target since she is off her medication and has 86 million dollars to spend. This concept becomes brilliant when thinking about what an average person with a mental disorder would do with that money.
Not a novel idea since real people do win lotteries from time to time but interesting nonetheless because of its coupling with the theme of “me”. From the trailer scenes, it is not “me” in the sense of pure egotism but “me” in terms of finding a sense of purpose. The opening line for the trailer is “everybody comes to our beautiful planet Earth to do something great.” Although this is the thinking of most dictators, I will give it the benefit of a doubt. Alice seems to want to find purpose through doing what she has always wanted, the talk show.
My alternative thoughts suggests something else though. Her character seems more introspective than out. Her interactions with other people are all awkward but honest. All people seek to be heard, especially the quiet ones, and I bet she is no exception. The quote mentioned above comes from one of her talk show recordings. In one of the scenes, she asks why her show isn’t like Oprah’s. This leads to the thought that she wants to be heard, to be as important as her idol. She seeks the attention and the admiration but doesn’t understand why it is not received. Sadly, this is probably very common with many people.
This film definitely looks worth a viewing. The writing is top-notch and Wiig is excellent in her approach to this role. Expect a U.S limited release May 1st 2015 and full release May 8th 2015. Find international release dates here.
Tell us your thoughts below!
(top image source: Alchemy)
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
