Tom Waits Week: Tom Onscreen

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) – This is sort of the Holy Grail of Tom Waits roles. In this movie, people who commit suicide end up in a limbo which greatly resembles the real world, only washed-out. Everybody bears the scars of their suicide method, but other than that, they go about their lives without change or resolution. When the trio of lead characters go off to see if there’s anything more to their new world, they meet Kneller (Waits’ character), who runs a campground where casual miracles happen. Waits plays Kneller as personable, yet slightly deranged. There’s a pretty great twist with his character that I’m not going to spoil, but he’s key to the movie. I like this movie, and it has what I think is the greatest few seconds ever committed to film.