"Running with Scissors"
Director Ryan Murphy
Sony Pictures Classics
(Out of 5)
An inspiring story about a boy with an unstable family life who
grows up to be a successful writer, “Running with
Scissors” is not a film for the faint of heart nor the faint
of stomach.
Director Ryan Murphy (TV’s “Nip/Tuck”) lets
his cruel and unusual sense of humor shine through in this dark
comedy based on Augusten Burroughs’ best-selling memoir.
In the film, Augusten (Joseph Cross, “Strangers with
Candy”) is a kind-hearted adolescent boy who is abandoned by
his alcoholic father and selfish, pill-popping mother, and forced
to live with their therapist and marriage counselor, Dr. Finch, and
his oddly religious family.
Augusten spends his teenage years ““ set in the latter part
of the 1970s ““ growing up in the doctor’s cluttered,
unsanitary home with Finch’s wife and two daughters, where he
explores his sexuality, decides upon a career as a hairdresser, and
records his atypical coming-of-age story in a journal.
Augusten’s life is extremely unpredictable; every time it
seems his life is going well, something goes wrong.
His mother becomes crazier and crazier and he becomes a bigger
outsider at school. In one hilarious and grotesque scene we see
Hope Finch (Gwyneth Paltrow) feed her unsuspecting little sister a
stew made from their deceased cat, claiming that the animal told
her that he wanted to be reincarnated as a stew.
Murphy does an excellent job of blurring the line between comedy
and tragedy. It is difficult not to laugh (out of nervousness if
nothing else) at some of the bizarre tragedy that Augusten faces in
his life.
Annette Bening (“American Beauty”) does a fantastic
job of portraying Dierdre Burroughs’ downward spiral into the
world of anti-depressants, while at the same time providing a
comical look at an attention-deprived stay-at-home mom aspiring to
be a famous writer.
In addition to Paltrow and Bening, the film has a star-studded
cast including Alec Baldwin, Joseph Fiennes (“Shakespeare in
Love”), and Evan Rachel Wood (“Thirteen”), who
provide a nice mix of characters.
Although Augusten’s adolescence has its ups and downs
(mostly downs), the film ends on an up note as it tells of the
futures of all of the main characters. “Running with
Scissors” ultimately serves as an inspiring morality tale
with an inspiring message that anyone with a good heart and a dream
can succeed.