Gabriel Wong
A crazy movie featuring crazy people and their crazy exploits – that, in a nut shell (pun intended) is what Running with Scissors is about.
Directed by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck) and produced by Brad “Mr Jolie” Pitt, the movie’s based (loosely, but more on this later) on the critically-acclaimed autobiography of the same name by comedic writer Augusten Burroughs (played by Joseph Cross, who won a Satellite award for his role).
Being an autobiography, the movie chronicles Burroughs’s life, from his traumatised infancy spent with warring parents, to being left by his searching-for-herself mum to live with her shrink, to his coming out of the closet and his first sexual experience with a man. It must be said, though, that audiences are likely to be skeptical, given how far-fetched some of the supposedly true events are.
Of course, the story is not all about him. In fact, despite it being a story based on his life, Augusten shares almost half his screen time focused on the exploits of the characters his life is based around: Dierdre Burroughs (Annette Bening in a Golden Globe nominated performance), Augusten’s depressed, drugged up, poet mother; Dr Finch (Brian Cox), Dierdre’s shrink who believes his faeces contain divine signs and has a “masturbatorium” (guess what that’s for?) in his office; Agnes (Jill Clayburgh), Finch’s eccentric wife who snacks on dog food; and Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood), Finch’s edgy, angsty teenage daughter.
Despite sharing the same name, having the same characters as and even lifting lines of dialogue straight from the book, Murphy, doubling up as screenwriter, has taken a fair bit of creative liberty with the storyline, changing the sequence of events, inserting or deleting characters from scenes in the book and even inserting dialogue out of context, which makes for a confusing experience for readers of the book. In fact, some members of the Finch family have been cut out of the movie altogether, which does cause some dissonance for readers of the book who are catching the movie.
The show has erratic pacing and a schizophrenic feel, jumping (within seconds) from whimsical, light-hearted moments of dry humour to intense, melodramatic scenes with outbursts of anger or depression from many of the different characters.
The script, while boring and superfluous at times, does have its moments. Borrowing from the subtle wit of the book, the lines are not slapstick or in-your-face funny but make use of the context and some intellect. Of course, that’s not to discount the occasional crass snap that gets the audience guffawing. For example, when Finch’s eldest daughter Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow) comments that a stew she made contains cat meat, Burroughs’ boyfriend Bookman (Joseph Fiennes) quipped that he doesn’t “eat pussy”.
The emotional moments are pretty well-done too, if slightly excessive. The farewell scenes Burroughs has with Agnes as well as Dierdre are particularly heart-rending in a very Hallmark sort of way.
The acting is fantastic all around, with Bening and Cross (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Shawn Ashmore of X-Men fame) being particularly emotive and outstanding, as their accolades have shown. Both put across strong performances, showcasing impressive ranges, especially in the “raging depression” scenes that take up half the show. The supporting cast, made up of surprisingly big names, is pretty good too, with Paltrow wonderfully eccentric as the ethereal and slightly ghostly Hope and Alec Baldwin (in his few scenes) particularly sympathy-inducing as Dierdre’s husband who just wants to lead a normal life.
Running with Scissors is a quirky watch that will certainly not appeal to all bases. For those willing to forgive its eccentricities and vast departures from the book, it does provide a relatively enjoyable watch.
UrbanWire gives Running with Scissors 3 out of 5 stars
Movie Details
Date of Release: February 8
Running Time: 116 min
Language: English
Director: Ryan Murphy
Cast: Joseph Cross, Annette Bening, Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Brian Cox