FAIRY TALES CAN COME TRUE, IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU: When she wins the lottery, Alice Klieg (Kristen Wiig) a woman with bipolar disorder suddenly finds herself with enough money to make her dream of hosting a TV show like Oprah’s come true. (Photo by Suzanne Hanover)

Let’s say you’re a diehard Oprah fan who has always wanted to have your own television series just like Oprah. What would you do if you won the lottery and suddenly had enough money to turn that dream into a reality?

That’s what happened to Alice Klieg (Kristen Wiig) when she won $86 million in the California Stacks Sweepstakes. The trouble is that she suffers from bipolar disorder and deludes herself into believing that now that she’s rich she no longer needs drugs.

So, she informs her psychiatrist (Tim Robbins) that she’s going off her medications and then offers him a bribe to give her a clean bill of health. Next, she approaches Rich, the general manager (James Marsden) of a TV station that specializes in infomercials, about buying air time for the talk show about herself that she wants to host.

Concerned about his struggling network’s bottom line, Rich gives his okay as soon as Alice gives him the $15 million needed to underwrite the project. His brother and business partner (Wes Bentley) is less enthusiastic about taking advantage of Alice until she proceeds to seduce him.

Since she’s the topic of every episode, Alice appropriately names the program “Welcome to Me.” The themes for the programs range from titles like “Jordana Spangler – a Liar,” “Matching Colors to Emotions,” “Lucky Foods,” “I Can Still Smell You,” and “Regulating Your Moods with a High-Protein Diet.” The only thing they have in common is that they focus on some aspect of the narcissistic emcee’s life.

The emotional exhibitionism proves compelling enough to improve ratings and Alice proceeds to self-destruct in front of her audience who can’t get enough of her no matter what she’s discussing. But at $150,000 per episode, it’s obvious that she’s eventually going to have a crash-landing .

Directed by Shira Piven, Welcome to Me is a droll dramatic comedy that is made for the comedic style of Kristen Wiig. Alternately vulnerable and bizarre, but always endearing, this movie is the Saturday Night Live (SNL) alumna’s best since Bridesmaids.

Kudos to Kristen for baring herself, literally and figuratively, and for delivering a performance that could easily have degenerated into the sort of slapstick she did on SNL.

Excellent (****). Rated R for sexuality, profanity, graphic nudity, and brief drug use. Running time: 87 minutes. Distributor: Alchemy.