Plot: What’s it about?
When we think of a “dysfunctional family”, several might come to mind: “The Simpson’s”, “The Royal Tenenbaums” or perhaps even “The Costanzas (from Seinfeld)”. Or, hell, maybe even our own. Suffice it to say that it’s all subjective but after seeing “Running with Scissors” I’m quite thankful that my family is nowhere near as messed up as the troubled childhood that Augsten Burroughs had to deal with. I’ll be the first to admit that I’d never heard of Burroughs and his book (that inspired this movie) was even a best seller. I had heard, however, of Ryan Murphy who has written/directed/produced “Nip/Tuck” – one of the television shows that I watch religiously. All that aside, “Running with Scissors” is a different kind of movie that will certainly polarize viewers. Yes friends, the phrase “you’ll love it or you’ll hate it” certainly comes into play here. The question is will an autobiographical account of an eccentric author’s childhood really make for an interesting movie? Yes. And no.
We meet young Augsten (later played by Joseph Cross) as he witnesses his parents fighting. His mother, Deidre (Annette Bening) is an eccentric poet and his father (Alec Baldwin) is a work-obsessed alcoholic. Life isn’t that fun and the love has certainly faded from their marriage. As time passes, they grow further apart and it’s not long that Augsten is somewhat adopted into the patchwork family headed by Dr. Finch (Brian Cox). Finch, another eccentric character, prescribes pills like they’re going out of style and his sprawling estate looks more like the city dump rather than a livable house. Augsten then meets the rest of the “family” which consists of Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood), Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow), Agnes (Jill Clayburgh) and Neil (and almost unrecognizable Joseph Fiennes). Each of these is a character in their own way. Agnes munches on dog treats while watching “Dark Shadows”. Hope has just buried her cat. Neil is gay (as is Augsten) and the two form a rather peculiar bond. Suffice it to say that it’s a strange place for someone to grow up.
“Running with Scissors” has a lot going for it, namely the A-list cast and a witty and quirky script that doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination. However, the story isn’t really that linear and it might lose a lot of viewers along the way. Movies like this might be better-titled as “The Adventures of…” over anything else. Any way you slice it, it’s almost a certainty that Augsten Burroughs’ childhood has made him the author he is today and while it’s tough and painful to watch – it’s somewhat satisfying as well. Annette Bening turns in another strong performance and we do get a reunion of sorts with Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes from their “Shakespeare in Love” days. Fans of the novel will certainly want to check this out, but for the rest of you out there …you’ve been warned.
Video: How does it look?
“Running with Scissors” comes to Blu-ray (and standard DVD) in a gorgeous 2.35:1 MPEG-2 HD transfer. For the most part, the colors are very subdued and the palette reflects that. Lest we forget, the movie takes place in the late 70’s when browns and oranges prevailed. I found the detail level to be outstanding with hardly any faults that I could find. Naturally, edge enhancement wasn’t a problem and contrast was right on par with some of the better transfers out there. I did think that a few of the scenes seemed a bit overly bright, but I hardly doubt that’s a fault of the transfer rather the way it was shot. Any way you cut it (get it…scissors), this looks great on Blu-ray.
Audio: How does it sound?
I have to say that I was reasonably impressed with the 70’s soundtrack that dominated most of the movie. We get a pure PCM uncompressed soundtrack here that sounds very rich and lively. Some of the songs have never sounded better, to be quite honest. Dialogue sounds warm and natural as well. Although this isn’t the kind of movie that will truly test your audio system, there are a few instances in which I was genuinely impressed. Granted, “Running with Scissors” was pretty much made for dialogue, but it’s got some fairly decent bits and pieces that crank the score up a notch. A nice effort here.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Sadly, we don’t get much here mainly just three featurettes that are more fluff than anything else. First up is “Inside Outsiders” which is basically just some behind the scenes footage and some on set interviews with the cast and crew. “A Personal Memoir with Augsten Burroughs” features just that, a five minute conversation with the author and his ravings about the movie. Lastly we have “Creating the Cuckoo’s Nest” which is a segment on the production design of the house which was “just as much a character in the movie as the people”. And that’s it, no trailer or commentary to boot.
