Girl Most Likely

Directed by: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini

A solo outing for (and primarily marketed as a film starring) Kristen Wiig, and given a very limited British release. This uneasy comedy sees Wiig play, Imogene, a wanabee playwright and semi socialite who never quite managed to get her big break, and her subsequent fall from the society she lives in, as she is dumped by her boyfriend and sacked from her job in New York. She then, with nowhere to go, returns to her family home, where she encounters her mother’s new lover, her left behind brother and a tenant who rents her room. On top of this, she learns that her long dead father, who she idolised, may not be quite as deceased as originally thought.

Quite the synopsis. And that is one, but certainly not the only, problem in this seemingly quirky romantic comedy/drama. In fact it is hard to get quite what the major plot strand of the film is; on the surface it is a redemption story, as, after her fall, Imogene returns home to discover what really matters, but then the ending betrays this. It is also as much a mystery laced drama, in the fact that Imogene’s dizzy mother, (Annette Benning), drops the bombshell that her father didn’t really die when she was a small girl, but actually just moved away, and left the family. Imogene, inspired by this myth of her great father, then goes hunting for him; without giving it much thought, questioning quite why or thinking about the ramifications. Then there is the love interest strand, as well as the sub plot of the shy, barely left home, brother, who Imogene must bond with, and ‘The Bousche’; her mother’s new lover, played gamely by Matt Dillion, who says he works for the CIA, but may just be a fraudster.

All these plot strands jostle for time and space in the lean running time, with none really taking centre stage; and that is what is most difficult to forgive about the film; it cannot settle, or stick to its path, almost that it has no courage in the script, and this goes against it, as Girl Most Likely becomes a series of sketches (oh look, a ironic Backstreet Boys dance number) in a film desperately needing focus.

It is the lack of clarity and focus of the script of Girl Most Likely, along with its sketched supporting characters and plodding narrative, is what makes the film such a frustrating watch. As there could be an interesting, sweet story here; a drama with a strong, likable, believable female protagonist, played well by Kristen Wiig, however the film gets bogged down in an awkward mix of indie quirk and Hollywood smultz. 

Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who have fallen a long way since the wonderful American Spender and containing a likable, entertaining performance by Wiig, who does her best in keeping some humour flowing; unfortunately, ultimately, Girl Most Likely is, in many ways, simply a wholly frustrating experience.