Running With Scissors
Running With Scissors
Score: 9/10
Running With Scissors is the film adaptation of Augusten Burroghs’ memoir of the same name. It was one I’d seen at book stores before and wanted to read, but now plan on reading it the first chance I have some free time on my hands.
The film reminds me of The Royal Tenenbaums, The Squid & the Whale, and Little Miss Sunshine in its ability to make light of a screwed up family situation while still finding the pain and heartbreak that lies beneath the quirky overtones. Augusten is found to be in the middle of two parents who can’t stand each other, but are still together day in and day out, and this eventually leads to a shrink becoming involved to see why the situation is so terrible. What follows is an unpredictable string of events that is truly funny at times, but ultimately heartbreaking. The cast really drives this movie, as the story is heavily based upon the characters’ interactions with each other and little else, and the performance by Annette Bening as the increasingly mental, below average poet and more importantly mother, is reason enough to see this movie. Couple her performance with brilliant performances by Joseph Cross as Augusten, Brian Cox as Dr. Finch, and everyone else in the movie and you have yourself one great film. Where Little Miss Sunshine and Royal Tenenbaums succeed with the quirkiness of their made up families, Running With Scissors succeeds because it is real. It is the story from Augusten’s point of view, but ultimately we see his true character through the descriptions of everyone around him who, while shown throughout the movie by Augusten as crazy and as people who’ve very nearly ruined his life, in the end we see that he also loves them all and wouldn’t be who he is today without them. It’s something that could easily be borderline cliche, but the way Augusten tells it with stark and brutal honesty is why it is far from cliche. This is as real as life gets and a unique experience I encourage everyone to give a chance.
