Thirty-something brothers Wilbur and Harbour (Sives and Rawlins) inherit their father's failing used bookstore in Glasgow. Severely depressed, Wilbur keeps trying to commit suicide while his stable, sensible brother saves and takes care of him. Alice, a single mom who works as a cleaning lady at the hospital, regularly comes to sell books left by the patients. Harbour tries to fix her up with Wilbur, but falls in love with and marries her himself. Her little girl Mary takes to Wilbur (as does Alice) even as he makes halfhearted attempts to find a girlfriend, often with hilarious results. Superficially bleak, this 2002 Danish film (with English dialogue) is a beautiful and richly character-driven tale with terrific acting: Sives resembles a scruffy Robert Downey Jr., and Henderson (the alcoholic ingenue from "Topsy-Turvy" and Moaning Myrtle in the second Harry Potter film) is also wonderful. "Wilbur" had only festival exposure in the UK and U.S. in the winter of 2003-04, but is scheduled for limited U.S. release in the spring of 2004. Deeply moving and enjoyable.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
