Girl Most Likely (2013)

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This is quite possibly one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I'm not going to go into detail, but it seemed like it leaned too heavily on Wiig and Benning, but really no substance, made no sense and I didn't laugh once. Still not sure what the point of this movie was. It was just very strange. Do not waste your time.

Upon its festival release, Girl Most Likely garnered generally negative reviews from critics. Christopher Schobert from film blog The Playlist called the film "a big-screen sitcom, elevated by Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening". He wrote that Wiig's "likability oozes from every scene in Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's occasionally winning, a touch too sitcom-y, but often very funny look at one woman's offbeat family and her attempts at discovering just what went wrong on the road to success. It is not, to be sure, Bridesmaids-style humor, and never reaches that blockbuster's belly laugh count. But the film doesn't lack for moments of inspired comedy, and I expect it to find an audience." In his review, Justin Chang from Variety felt that "an able cast, led by Kristen Wiig's prickly lead turn, saves this uneven, excessively quirky but ultimately ingratiating story Offering another sly snapshot of the filmmakers' native New York, a la The Nanny Diaries and The Extra Man this soft-bellied crowdpleaser should post modest numbers in specialty play and DVD/VOD rotation. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 20% rating based on 85 reviews with the site's consensus: "Largely witless and disappointingly dull, Girl Most Likely strands the gifted Kristen Wiig in a blandly hollow foray into scattershot sitcom territory."

Imogene's life is in complete disarray. Her love interest has left, and her status isn't what it once was, she also steals. She moves back in with her family for a while, horrified to learn that her father isn't dead she was told. She meets a man named Lee, who not only helps give Imogene's life meaning again, but helps her search for her father's presence as well. I like Kristen Wiig. I liked her on SNL, and I enjoy her in movies. This was quite a change of pace for her, and while this movie is flawed, I must give Wiig a lot of credit for having the determination. It's a bit quirky and sentimental, but I actually enjoyed a lot of this movie. Your enjoyment of this movie may depend on how much you can relate to the selfishness of Kristen Wiig. If you can't tolerate her self absorbed character, you might have a miserable experience. If you manage to get into the character, I think you'll have a decent time with this movie. You can be renowned as much as possible, but if you aren't truly happy with your life, all the fame & exposure isn't gonna do squat for your happiness. When Imogene gets bailed out of jail, and is asked to sum up her experience, she says "disappointing" that's how much she is pining for happiness & adventure in her life. It's a decent character study. Kristen Wiig gives a great performance. It was neat to watch her evolve from prissy to a human being. Her character goes through a major transformation in the second half, and I thought Wiig did a tremendous job. Annette Bening is very good as the outlandish mother. Matt Dillon steals many scenes that he's in with his character. Darren Criss does a great Backstreet Boys impression. I thought his chemistry with Wiig was cute. Overall, this is quite imperfect, but I do have to give it credit. It definitely kept my attention throughout. It's worth a watch6.4/10

While I thought the script was funny and the acting solid, I always get hung up on screenwriter's lack of fact checking. When Wiig gets placed under involuntary psych. care, they call it a "5150" - That term is only used in L.A. - not in NY or NJ!!! I realize most screenwriters are based in L.A. (including this one) but can't they do some basic fact-checking before you write the final script? It seems lazy not to and it makes me lose interest in the film as a whole once I see these types of glaring errors. I know this isn't a serious dramatic film on psych disorders but it isn't the no-budget junior high school production of Oklahoma either.