Wirey Spindell (1999)

24% of critics liked it
(17 reviews)
75% of users liked it
(576 ratings)

Eric Schaeffer writes, directs, produces, and stars in this wacky sex comedy. Nine days away from his wedding, Spindell (Schaeffer) realizes that, though his future bride Tabitha (Callie Thorne) is both gorgeous and understanding, he no longer finds her sexually attractive. In flashbacks, we learn… More Eric Schaeffer writes, directs, produces, and stars in this wacky sex comedy. Nine days away from his wedding, Spindell (Schaeffer) realizes that, though his future bride Tabitha (Callie Thorne) is both gorgeous and understanding, he no longer finds her sexually attractive. In flashbacks, we learn about the sexually precocious Spindell, including a time as a toddler when he tries to have oral sex with an electrical outlet. Later in college, he has a long passionate affair with Samantha, who is just as neurotic and sexually kinked as he is. Wirey Spindell was screened at the 1999 Boston Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Eric Schaeffer
Written By: Eric Schaeffer
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Jun 1, 1999 Wide
On DVD: Oct 3, 2000
Studio: Winstar

Critic Reviews

Daniel M. Kimmel, Variety
...a teen sex comedy for the grown-up arthouse crowd.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
To say that this movie is true to life is only to say that it's banal, boring and confusing.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Wirey Spindell is as idiosyncratic as the name of its hero, which gives this surprisingly affecting film its title.
Jessica Winter, Village Voice
Ambiguously autobiographical (and, per usual, sooty-lensed.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Where writer-director Eric Schaeffer shoots himself in the foot is by succumbing to the narcissistic voice within.
Nathan Rabin, AV Club
Long, shapeless, and painfully unfunny, Wirey Spindell confirms its maker's status as one of the most distinctively awful filmmakers of his generation.
Chris Gore, Film Threat
The first pleasant surprise of 2000.
Brent Simon, Entertainment Today
A naked attempt at Jerry Maguire-style profundity that elicited 47 temple rubs and 13 audible Jesuses between my companion and I... the comedic equivalent of flat soda.
Mike Kerrigan, Boxoffice Magazine
The big puzzle is why anyone would want to get within 50 feet of the guy, let alone marry him.
Scott Renshaw, Apollo Guide
As annoying and self-indulgent as the film may be, it can only seem irredeemable once Schaeffer has confirmed what you already suspected -- that he's using the film to trot out every oddball anecdote from his own life.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Schaeffer needs to realize that there are few universals in his stories and way too many specifics, and it takes more than a weird name like Wirey Spindell to make a person really distinctive.
Peter Henne, Film Journal International
What is appallingly lacking in the film is recognizing the possibility that this person's life might be one big bundle of irresponsibility.
Matt Reichl, Reel.com
Easily the best film that writer-director Eric Schaeffer (My Life's in Turnaround, Fall, If Lucy Fell) has made in his short career as the king of narcissistic indie cinema. But that's like saying that some hate crimes are preferable to others.
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve
For the most part Mr. Schaeffer, by mixing melodrama and comedy in ways that they do not combine, neither shows how Wirey's early life is so terrible that he winds up a drugged and drunken misfit nor jogs the comedy to a level beyond the mildly amusing.