Sibling chemistry

The title characters are a semi-estranged brother and sister who plunge into a semi-farcical reunion after a string of personal crises and familial calamities. The skeleton part is mostly a matter of scripted symbolism. And, like the movie as a whole, that symbolism mixes cutesy sentiment with broad hints of gloom.

What may matter most, however, is that the brother and sister are played by Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. Those two illustrious alums of Saturday Night Live are the most interesting and lively things in this sad little comedy/ drama.

Unfortunately, that’s also a reflection on the mixed success of the entire production. It’s an effective showcase for two gifted and appealing performers, but the overall results are rather sketchy in terms of emotional and dramatic conviction.

Director Craig Johnson and co-writer Mark Heyman have loaded their script up with enough character complications to fuel a miniseries or an all-star melodrama. Milo (Hader) is gay and terminally lonesome. Maggie (Wiig) seems “happily married” but is profoundly unhappy and compulsively promiscuous as well. There is some scandalous and complicated back story involving a former high school teacher, an impulse to suicide seems to run in the family, etc.

There’s plenty of challenge in all that for the two very capable stars. But neither they nor the Johnson-Heyman script do much justice to the tale’s tragicomic undercurrents.