The Best and Worst of Kristen Wiig

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "Ghostbusters" star Kristen Wiig.

Films starring Kristen Wiig that I've seen:
Knocked Up
The Brothers Solomon
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Semi-Pro
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Adventureland
Extract
Date Night
MacGruber
Despicable Me
Paul 
Bridesmaids
Her
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The Skeleton Twins
Welcome to Me
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
The Martian
Zoolander 2

Best Performance: The Skeleton Twins (2014)
Wiig has strayed from her comedic roots quite a bit since she left Saturday Night Live in May 2012, but none of her other forays into the world of dramatic acting have been as impressive as her award-caliber turn in The Skeleton Twins. Wiig gives a captivating yet heartbreaking performance as a manically depressed woman in her late 30' who's on the verge of committing suicide, when she's forced to reevaluate her life after reconnecting with her estranged twin brother ( an equally impressive Bill Hader) following his failed suicide attempt. The strength of Wiig's performance has forced Hollywood to start taking her seriously as a dramatic actor.

Worst Performance: The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)
For all of the excellent dramatic work Wiig has turned in over the past few years, there are also complete stinkers like The Diary of a Teenage Girl. None of the promise she showed in The Skeleton Twins and Welcome to Me is on display here as she sleepwalks through her role as a cliche irresponsible, hard-partying, absentee mother. While Wiig didn't portray the most vile character in this film, I still got pretty infuriated every time she appeared on screen. I really hope Wiig avoids starring in moronic, ineptly-constructed garbage like this in the future.     

Best Film: Knocked Up (2007)
Judd Apatow solidified his place in my personal comedy hall-of-fame by following up 2005's hysterical, heartful The 40-Year Old Virgin with the equally brilliant Knocked Up two years later. Knocked Up is one of those special movies I could heap praise on for hours on end without even coming up for air. The laugh-out-loud moments are abundant throughout, the dramatic elements are well-executed and feel entirely rooted in reality and above all, this film marked the moment where I realized just how great Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel and Jay Baruchel are as comedic actors. Without question one of the top 3-5 funniest movies I've ever seen.

Worst Film: The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) 
The Diary of a Teenage Girl is one of those rare films that pissed me off to no end while I was watching it. The writing is awful, the acting rivals that of a community theater production and the characters are universally insufferable. Even as a someone who is a sucker for Sundance coming-of-age movies, I couldn't find anything redeeming about The Diary of a Teenage Girl.

Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Star Trek Beyond" star Anton Yelchin .