Running with Scissors

Well, one thing you can't say about this film is that it doesn't try to be different, even if it ultimately resembles a number of independent US 'dysfunctional family' movies. The trouble is it sometimes comes across as being too clever and, for all its quirky characters - who should be drawing you into their world and lives - the film stubbornly holds the audience at arm's length. This is a major weakness, because it leaves you feeling like you're watching animals in a zoo or specimens under a microscope rather than real people with real emotions.

The immediate suspicion about memoirs is that they are the memories (real or manufactured - but that's an entirely different can of worms) of just one person in the story, and that the other characters have no opportunity to provide their side of that story. The real-life Finch family brought legal action against Augusten Burroughs for the way they were portrayed and the case was settled out of court by Burrough's publishers. This could have been because they didn't want to get involved in a potentially damaging and expensive court case, or it might have been because the Finches had a strong case - either way the fact of the settlement is bound to cast some doubt over the truth of Burrough's tale.

With regards to the film itself, it's something of a trudge for the most part. This is despite the fact that every single part is played to perfection by an eclectic cast. Brian Cox, whose career appears to become more successful the older he gets, is especially good as the crackpot psychiatrist who adopts the 15-year-old Burroughs (Joseph Cross), welcoming him into an eccentric and disturbed family. Annette Bening also gives a terrific performance, even though her character becomes increasingly annoying as the film goes on (only Jill Clayburgh and Alec Baldwin's characters emerge with any kind of dignity). Although the film tends to drag at times, when it shines it really shines, especially with the use of some well-chosen songs from the 70s. The sequence played out to Al Stewart's Year of the Cat is particularly memorable, and it's a shame that these moments are distributed so sparingly amongst the more pedestrian material.

Amusing but unsatisfying adaptation of Augusten Burrough's autobiography. Burrough's mother (played by Annette Bening) fancied herself a poet. After constant fighting with her husband (Alec Baldwin) she becomes entangled with a quack psychologist (Brian Cox), who drugs her up and convinces her to give custody of her son over to him. Augusten (Joseph Cross) lives between his mother and the psychologist, along with his quirky family (Jill Clayburgh, Gwyneth Paltrow and Evan Rachel Wood). He also becomes romantically involved with the doctor's other adopted son (Joseph Fiennes, whom I didn't recognize at all). The film has a hard time deciding whether it's a comedy or a drama. I imagine Augosten Burroughs had a hard time deciding which category his life fit into, as well, if this is how it all went down! The doctor and his family are endlessly quirky. The man graduated from Yale, but lives in a hell-hole where nothing is clean, Christmas decorations are kept up all year around, and the doctor's wife eats dog food while watching Dark Shadows. Oh, and the guy interprets his stool to tell his fortune. But then, this is supposed to have really happened, so it certainly has a tragic angle to it all. The doctor doped Burrough's mother into oblivion and stole all her money, and the child support his father sent. The movie is often very funny, especially near the beginning, before we realize the tragic aspects of it. It does also contain one of the funniest lines of the year, concerning the doctor's private room, which he refers to as his "masturbatorium", read with aplomb by Brian Cox. The movie starts falling apart when the drama and comedy don't mix. Several scenes don't work well at all, especially a completely nonsensical montage mixing three disparate events together, at least one of which doesn't fit into the movie whatsoever. The pop music score is especially amateurish, even worse than the one in The Departed. The movie is far from great, but it's worth seeing for the performances. Everyone is very good here. Wait for video, though.

As I was sitting in the theater with 20 other people, there was a palpable feeling of impatience and boredom. I believe a truly great film has one outstanding quality that separates it from mediocre films-- we CARE about what happens to the characters at the end. This movie tries extremely hard to achieve that but fails. You will not want to see this a second time ('re-watchability' is another sign of a standout film). While Augusten Burroughs may feel his life is fascinating, I believe he is self-absorbed to the point of narcissism. He had some unusual circumstances in his upbringing to be sure, but certainly some vignettes are exaggerated or not truthful, and some of his choices in life that failed were HIS choices. Ultimately, not only do we NOT care about these pathetic characters, we blame them for their own poor decisions. Okay, now having said that, it must be pointed out that 'Running With Scissors' not only contains some of the best acting of the year, but as an ensemble, the cast is EXCELLENT. This is easily Annette Bening's best performance ever; a real tour-de-force. She runs the gamut of emotions without chewing the scenery. My mother suffered a nervous breakdown when I was 12, and suffered many emotional problems which had an affect on me. So I could relate to the truthfulness of Annette Bening's character's ups and downs. I had thought that Meryl Streep in 'The Devil Wears Prada' would be my choice for Best Actress Oscar, but now it is Annette Bening. Brian Cox (HIS best ever), Alec Baldwin, and Evan Rachel Wood are top-notch. Due to the limitations of the character, Gwyneth Paltrow is muted, and though I adore her, and she's good here, this isn't her best. Joseph Fiennes is NOT a great actor, but this IS his best job yet. Kudos to Jill Clayburgh-- she was a mess, and let her skills shine through it all. It was a real treat to watch her. Surprisingly, Joseph Cross as the protagonist is a bit weak. He is 20 years old playing a 14 year-old. I couldn't buy it. Obviously, a true 14 year-old may not have been able to carry this film, but another late-teen might. Had Ryan Gosling been 18 and cast in this, HE might have caused us to care more. We needed a deeper actor than Joseph Cross. One nice thing about the movie is how it captures all the BS of the 70's in referencing over-medication and over-analysis for problem-solving. It even shows how electro-shock therapy was acceptable at one point for many ills, but no longer. Finally, there is something about this film that truly bugs me-- the trailer! We were led to believe that this would be a quirky film, with some wacky and interesting characters, a la 'The Royal Tennenbaums'. But the scenes in the trailer that came across as humorous carry serious weight in the film. I think the studio realized how heavy this movie was, and chose to market it as quirky to get more folks in. That isn't right, but typical of a studio. So I'm doing my part to tell you to NOT go see this, but maybe rent it on DVD to see some great acting (particularly Annette Bening). P.S. I just added this. I noticed another reviewer wrote that there was info about the characters at the end credits. I like reading credits, yet got out of there as soon as they started because I was so glad it was over. So there you go...

Black comedies can be very subjective to an audience. Running With Scissors isn't for everyone. The humor comes from the often shocking dysfunction the characters struggle with. Annette Bening plays a woman so selfish, egotistical and full of anger that she would destroy her family to satisfy her needs. Ms. Bening's performance is raw and spontaneous. Brian Cox plays the doctor she turns to who may or may not be an out and out quack, another stellar performance. Natalie Rachel Ward stands out as the doctors younger daughter while Gweneth Paltrow seems lost amongst the fine acting surrounding her, and although it is always good to see Jill Clayburgh in anything, I was not as impressed with her as I have been in the past. Alec Baldwins turn as Bening's husband is small, but he holds his own. In the midst of all the over the top, almost Gothic insanity is Bening and Baldwin's son, based on the author, subtly played by Joseph Cross. Joseph Fiennes has a difficult time with a difficult character, another victim of the doctor's "treatment".

I would agree with another commenter who stated that the director Ryan Murphy uses every trick in the book when it comes to film making and then some. I fully expected a musical number or a dream sequence. As evidenced in Nip Tuck, Murphy relies on music to enhance a mood. The art direction and costumes capture the seventies and all it's weirdness. As others have said RWS also reminded me of American Beauty in it's anti-American dream nature. This movie covers dark territory, doesn't have obvious comedy and doesn't follow any typical scenario although it did suffer from "sappy" moments. I can guarantee that you'll walk out of the theater happy that you aren't anyone in the film.

This is not an awful movie nor isn't it a recommendation of mine but Augusten Burrough's life seems gypped with this rendition. Obviously, Annette Bening was glorious as the misdirected, doped, self-important woman who has been stripped of a goal in life, something she is not innocent in ruining herself. Additionally, Jill Clayburgh hits another high note as she inhabits her role as expertly as Bening. Obviously, the women shine here. In fact, none of the actors fail the film for acting chops. Unfortunately, the bent and disturbed early life of Augusten Burroughs almost seems zapped of his personal joy and awe at his wild surroundings. Augusten was inspired by these events not just a victim of them. A problem the casting had was for its main character. Joseph Cross seems miscast in that he is clearly much too old to fill his shoes. An important fact is that Augusten was a minor involved in a lopsided affair with a man much older than he. In this casting, Fiennes and Cross could have been schoolmates so the legal point of "statutory rape" seems quite lost nor is there any indication of how his strength evolved out of this relationship. Augusten's writings delve into and reveal his flamboyance and vanity as well as his apparent jubilation at having such a disturbed upbringing. Augusten in the film becomes merely a secondary character with very little interaction. It's almost not about him. As a heartbreaking dissection of how family members can cripple each other and have their dreams implode, this film soars. It might have been better as fiction but Augusten Burroughs' personality on film doesn't evolve except for some minor wardrobe changes. There's a lot more pain, destruction and crying here than any amazement at it all, a much more distinct element in Burroughs' writing. It hardly skirts how funny and clever he is on paper.