Running With Scissors Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Dark comedy minus the comedy!!

This film had the potential to be on par with the likes of The Royal Tenenbaums and numerous other movies dealing with dysfunctional families, but it never quite reaches that level. There is just too much tragedy in the lead characters life for even the slightly funny bits to raise a smile.

I found myself more concerned with the fact that this film is based on Augusten Burroughs' personal memoirs, and alarmed that all these events actually happened to this poor kid!!!

There is a couple of redeeming qualities though- one is Annette Bening who acts her socks off as the crazy mum, and the second is that Augusten survived his traumatising childhood to become a success!!!

Think I might go back and read the book instead!!!

Dysfunctional families

The opening scene is great and the first fifteen minutes or so are promising, but after that the film slumps into dreary gloom and doom from which it never emerges. The film is based on the memoirs of the American author Augusten Burroughs in which he charts his childhood and adolescence as the only son of dysfunctional parents. His father is an alcoholic, his untalented mother yearns to be a famous poet and recites her work to her adoring son. When her psychotic episodes begin to take over, her husband walks out and the young Augusten is sent to live with the equally dysfunctional family of his mother’s dubious psychiatrist who likes to get his hands on his patients’ trust funds and dishes out tranquillizers as if they were biscuits. I hoped for some denouement in which the psychiatrist is proved to have been responsible for everyone’s mental deterioration and gets his just deserts, but no. There is no shape to the story, in fact there’s very little story, and no sign of any hope for Augusten’s future. Do we care? Well, there were one or two moments when I felt sorry for him but that’s all. I certainly couldn’t empathise with any of the other characters, with perhaps the exception of Augusten’s father. It is a very depressing film that goes nowhere.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Irritating

I rented this film after friends had commented on how great the book was... i wish I'd read the book instead.

Augusten Burroughs is a teenager raised by unstable parents, who's eventual split leads his mother to hand him over to her psychiatrist, a man who's family is as questionable as his medical practices.

The film isn'y entirely bad but I did get very bored about three quarters of the way through. I found most of the characters very irritating particularly Dierdre, the mother (played superbly by Annette Benning) who I had absolutely no sympathy for at all.

I wouldn't go as far as saying avoid this film but there are better films out there to rent first.

Lovely Film

Terrific acting by the entire cast, great editing especially when cutting between characters while each shows their individual way of dealing with rage. It has a gentle humour, not a comedy, but not a depressing examination of mental illness or grim childhood either. If you enjoyed Breakfast on Pluto, you'll enjoy this, both have a very similar directorial style and lead character.

Dire!

If you've read and enjoyed the book, do NOT see this film, you will be devastated by how bad it is

A great book ruined

Dull, dull,dull!

What a shame that this film adaptation of a stimulating, thought provoking - and fun - book was boring and dull.

It failed completely to capture the mood of the time (the 1970s) and recreated none of the kookiness that permeated the book.

I think one reason is that it was a first film for the director who had only directed TV (e.g. Nip Tuck) previously. It should have been done by someone who had nothing to prove or a fearless newcomer like Cam Archer.

The other glaring problem is this; despite a good adult cast, and the 6 year old Augustine was near perfect, they cast a 20 year old to play a boy aged 12 to 14! Why do they do this? With the best will in the world one can not suspend belief enough to accept this adult as a vunerable, slightly effeminate, adolescent who's life is in constant turmoil due to the weird lives of all those around him.

A great disappointment.

Weird

This film was just weird! I was recommended it by a friend, but i was very disappointed! You feel nothing for the characters and its just odd!

Cure for Insomnia

A hilarious camp novel about an insanely dysfunctional family is transformed on screen into a tedious worthy yawnfest about child abuse. The worst adaptation of a novel ever. If you love the book run a mile from this bore-a-thon

Blissfully Surreal

I loved this film! It is wonderfully surreal, touching, intimate and beautifully acted

Terrible

One of the worst movies I have seen for a long time. I persisted with it, in the hope that it would get better - it didn't!

Do not bother with this film!