You’d think that Ryan Murphy, creator of plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck, might know a little about the potentially disastrous effects of remodelling things that their owners hold dear. Apparently not — his adaptation of Augusten Burroughs’ affecting and riotously amusing childhood memoir (think Adrian Mole scripted by the Marquis de Sade) proves about as appealing as major surgery.
The director treats the author’s delicious humour like a tumour, removing every trace, which leads to a one-note tale shorn of ebullience — saved from one-star ignominy only by Annette Bening’s stand-out monster of a mother-figure.
Verdict Well-acted by teh superb ensemble cast but there just isn't a likeable character amongst them to care about.
Reviewed by Will Lawrence
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Average user rating for Running With Scissors
too many people dislike this film because of failure to understand
Augusten Burroughs, 'RUnning with Scissors,' is a fantastic book, very cleverly written, engaging and somehow endearing.
Ryan Murphy was brave to take on such a complicated and indeed difficult to present storyline as this.
Burrough's life was incredibly surreal, maybe too surreal for certain people to get their heads around......but yet i feel Murphy has done his best to carry across the charm from the book to the film, and although the story itself has had to be dramatically reduced, the b... More
Posted by WhiteRabbit23 at 15:18, 10 August 2009 | Report This Post
RE:
It's hard to know exactly what to make of With Scissors Partly because it is difficult to know what to make of Augusten Burroughs. I wasn't aware of Burroughs prior to seeing this film and hadn't read any of his material. However, I was aware of the rather fantastical nature of the book With Scissorsding some of the reviews. Bearing all of that in mind, it is somewhat difficult to criticise the film's narrative or plotting because it relies so heavily on Burrough's original ... More
Posted by Groovy Mule at 19:26, 06 February 2007 | Report This Post
this is a rubbish film with not one likeable character that tries too hard ... More
Posted by moviemaniac2 at 16:17, 04 February 2007 | Report This Post
RE: RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
L: film_fan_484
This was good film, don't get me wrong, but some things I thought during the movie were "now, did that really happen?" or "this is so stupid" and I really hate to say that b/c i love alot of the actors in this film especially Annette Bening. And I hate to say it, but her performance in this isn't really Academy Award worthy. Sure it is a good performance but it isn't excellent. This is a good movie, but it isn't a movie you need to rush out to see, but if you do plan on see... More
Posted by felix sore foot at 12:17, 17 January 2007 | Report This Post
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