Correndo con le forbici in mano

Well, one thing you can't say about this film is that it doesn't try to be different, even if it ultimately resembles a number of independent US 'dysfunctional family' movies. The trouble is it sometimes comes across as being too clever and, for all its quirky characters - who should be drawing you into their world and lives - the film stubbornly holds the audience at arm's length. This is a major weakness, because it leaves you feeling like you're watching animals in a zoo or specimens under a microscope rather than real people with real emotions.

The immediate suspicion about memoirs is that they are the memories (real or manufactured - but that's an entirely different can of worms) of just one person in the story, and that the other characters have no opportunity to provide their side of that story. The real-life Finch family brought legal action against Augusten Burroughs for the way they were portrayed and the case was settled out of court by Burrough's publishers. This could have been because they didn't want to get involved in a potentially damaging and expensive court case, or it might have been because the Finches had a strong case - either way the fact of the settlement is bound to cast some doubt over the truth of Burrough's tale.

With regards to the film itself, it's something of a trudge for the most part. This is despite the fact that every single part is played to perfection by an eclectic cast. Brian Cox, whose career appears to become more successful the older he gets, is especially good as the crackpot psychiatrist who adopts the 15-year-old Burroughs (Joseph Cross), welcoming him into an eccentric and disturbed family. Annette Bening also gives a terrific performance, even though her character becomes increasingly annoying as the film goes on (only Jill Clayburgh and Alec Baldwin's characters emerge with any kind of dignity). Although the film tends to drag at times, when it shines it really shines, especially with the use of some well-chosen songs from the 70s. The sequence played out to Al Stewart's Year of the Cat is particularly memorable, and it's a shame that these moments are distributed so sparingly amongst the more pedestrian material.

The true story of Augusten Burroughs's beginnings, sound like a demented work of fiction. That's true of most true things. Here, putting aside what's real and what may be a figment of Augusten's imagination, there is a movie. A slightly confused, a bit pretentious but unquestionably fun movie with some high caliber actors at the top of their game. Annette Bening to start with, extraordinary and without clinging to one of her delightful giggles. She is a magnificent, deplorable human spectacle. Reconizable and yet totally alien. Her character is in her way down from the word go and she (Annette or Deidre)don't shy away from the most devastating human blows. She is surrounded by a beautifully designed human zoo of extreme characters. They carry their eccentricities like badges of honor. Brian Cox, superb as the Dickensian know-it-all, his daughters , Evan Rachel Wood and the magnificent Gwynneth Paltrow who can tell you more with half a look than with two pages of exposition. Jill Claybourgh! Goodness gracious me! Where has she been? She's the throbbing heart of the matter, dog food an all. Her sanity, hidden behind a demented, neglected hairdo, is as real as Joseph Cross' Augusten Burroughs. Joseph Finnes's gorgeous nut doesn't have a great deal of sexual chemistry with his under age lover but maybe he wasn't suppose to. As if all this wasn't enough, Alec Baldwin, giving one of the best performances of his career in a character who's on the screen for only a few minutes. Woody Allen, John Irvin even Eugene Ionesco and Frank Perry are present in this engaging display of human frailty. Terrific surprise.

As I was sitting in the theater with 20 other people, there was a palpable feeling of impatience and boredom. I believe a truly great film has one outstanding quality that separates it from mediocre films-- we CARE about what happens to the characters at the end. This movie tries extremely hard to achieve that but fails. You will not want to see this a second time ('re-watchability' is another sign of a standout film). While Augusten Burroughs may feel his life is fascinating, I believe he is self-absorbed to the point of narcissism. He had some unusual circumstances in his upbringing to be sure, but certainly some vignettes are exaggerated or not truthful, and some of his choices in life that failed were HIS choices. Ultimately, not only do we NOT care about these pathetic characters, we blame them for their own poor decisions. Okay, now having said that, it must be pointed out that 'Running With Scissors' not only contains some of the best acting of the year, but as an ensemble, the cast is EXCELLENT. This is easily Annette Bening's best performance ever; a real tour-de-force. She runs the gamut of emotions without chewing the scenery. My mother suffered a nervous breakdown when I was 12, and suffered many emotional problems which had an affect on me. So I could relate to the truthfulness of Annette Bening's character's ups and downs. I had thought that Meryl Streep in 'The Devil Wears Prada' would be my choice for Best Actress Oscar, but now it is Annette Bening. Brian Cox (HIS best ever), Alec Baldwin, and Evan Rachel Wood are top-notch. Due to the limitations of the character, Gwyneth Paltrow is muted, and though I adore her, and she's good here, this isn't her best. Joseph Fiennes is NOT a great actor, but this IS his best job yet. Kudos to Jill Clayburgh-- she was a mess, and let her skills shine through it all. It was a real treat to watch her. Surprisingly, Joseph Cross as the protagonist is a bit weak. He is 20 years old playing a 14 year-old. I couldn't buy it. Obviously, a true 14 year-old may not have been able to carry this film, but another late-teen might. Had Ryan Gosling been 18 and cast in this, HE might have caused us to care more. We needed a deeper actor than Joseph Cross. One nice thing about the movie is how it captures all the BS of the 70's in referencing over-medication and over-analysis for problem-solving. It even shows how electro-shock therapy was acceptable at one point for many ills, but no longer. Finally, there is something about this film that truly bugs me-- the trailer! We were led to believe that this would be a quirky film, with some wacky and interesting characters, a la 'The Royal Tennenbaums'. But the scenes in the trailer that came across as humorous carry serious weight in the film. I think the studio realized how heavy this movie was, and chose to market it as quirky to get more folks in. That isn't right, but typical of a studio. So I'm doing my part to tell you to NOT go see this, but maybe rent it on DVD to see some great acting (particularly Annette Bening). P.S. I just added this. I noticed another reviewer wrote that there was info about the characters at the end credits. I like reading credits, yet got out of there as soon as they started because I was so glad it was over. So there you go...

I have read 2 of Agustine Bourroughs novels and I was, frankly, a little afraid that this one might be ruined by being re-cast as a movie. With this story in the hands of this director and this cast, my fears were groundless: it translated beautifully. I am sure that this is in no small part due to Burroughs personal involvement in the production, but greater authors have had their work ruined right under their noses, so it is a credit to both Author and creative staff that the engaging story remains intact. I think it gives a truthful depiction of what it is like to grow-up with mental illness in the family and also presents a metaphor for the craziness and dysfunction which is, at some level, in every family. The cast was all superb, especially Annette Benning and Jill Clayburgh. Joseph Cross and Joseph Fiennes were equally superb -- in fact, EVERYONE was so good I almost don't want to single anyone out. I will recommend this movie to friends.

This is not an awful movie nor isn't it a recommendation of mine but Augusten Burrough's life seems gypped with this rendition. Obviously, Annette Bening was glorious as the misdirected, doped, self-important woman who has been stripped of a goal in life, something she is not innocent in ruining herself. Additionally, Jill Clayburgh hits another high note as she inhabits her role as expertly as Bening. Obviously, the women shine here. In fact, none of the actors fail the film for acting chops. Unfortunately, the bent and disturbed early life of Augusten Burroughs almost seems zapped of his personal joy and awe at his wild surroundings. Augusten was inspired by these events not just a victim of them. A problem the casting had was for its main character. Joseph Cross seems miscast in that he is clearly much too old to fill his shoes. An important fact is that Augusten was a minor involved in a lopsided affair with a man much older than he. In this casting, Fiennes and Cross could have been schoolmates so the legal point of "statutory rape" seems quite lost nor is there any indication of how his strength evolved out of this relationship. Augusten's writings delve into and reveal his flamboyance and vanity as well as his apparent jubilation at having such a disturbed upbringing. Augusten in the film becomes merely a secondary character with very little interaction. It's almost not about him. As a heartbreaking dissection of how family members can cripple each other and have their dreams implode, this film soars. It might have been better as fiction but Augusten Burroughs' personality on film doesn't evolve except for some minor wardrobe changes. There's a lot more pain, destruction and crying here than any amazement at it all, a much more distinct element in Burroughs' writing. It hardly skirts how funny and clever he is on paper.