Running with Scissors		Image courtesy of TriStar Pictures
In the marketplace of today’s blameless society where no one is capable of accepting responsibility for their own actions, some moviegoers would probably appreciate a humorous movie about fucked-up family values. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. Because the subject matter of director Ryan Murphy’s (“nip/tuck” creator) screenplay adaptation of the Augusten Burroughs’ novel, Running With Scissors, hit a little too close to home for me, I found myself crying instead of laughing at its absurd depiction of parental guidance gone awry. Rarely is a movie able to pack an emotional punch strong enough to render me numb; but, for some strange reason, the emotional plight of Augusten Burroughs shook me to the core as I stared in disbelief at his psychologically disturbed mother signing over Augusten’s parental rights to her even more delusional shrink. In spite of all the comedic antics surrounding this cast of oddities, the film never allowed me to distance myself far enough from all of the parental abandonment for me to enjoy its dark, sadistic humor. Almost as soon as Murphy establishes the dysfunctional marriage of delusional narcissist Deirdre Burroughs (Annette Bening) and her emotionally removed husband Norman (Alec Baldwin), he plunges us into the demolition of their ill-fated union. Of course, we don’t really care about the estranged couple; so, we laugh at the 5 hour-a-day therapy sessions demanded by Deirdre’s deranged psychiatrist Dr. Finch’s (Brian Cox) when they send Norman packing…until we realize that he has just left 6 year-old Augusten (Jack Kaeding) in the care of his crazy mother. Fast forward eight years and we find that 14 year-old Augusten (Joseph Cross) is now the only stabilizing factor keeping his mother from fully crossing over into la-la land. But, because Dr. Finch feeds Deirdre’s delusional grandeur instead of helping her overcome it, Deirdre’s self-absorbed nature convinces her to pawn-off Augusten on Dr. Finch, an outdated, philandering shrink who bases his life decisions on the shape of his morning dump. Of course, the good doctor’s fecal obsession isn’t the most bizarre oddity in the Finch household. His favorite daughter Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow) thinks her cat Freud “talks” to her, his other daughter Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood) likes to play with her father’s illegal electro-shock machine, and his wife Agnes (Jill Clayburgh) spends her day snacking on dog kibble and watching old reruns of “Dark Shadows.” Predictably, the old adage about a fine line separating genius from insanity is true in maladaptive Finch-world. Even though Agnes letting 14 year-old Augusten become sexually involved with 35 year-old schizophrenic Neil Bookman (Joseph Fiennes) doesn’t qualify her for mother of the year, she’s still a better mother figure than absentee Deirdre and her narcissistic poetry readings. Don’t worry about the uncomfortable issue of illegal sodomy – Murphy discretely glosses over it. Overall, I can’t complain about Running With Scissors being a “bad movie” because there is no such thing. Since the only reason anyone likes a particular film is because its ideology tells us what we already want to hear, and I obviously didn’t like the film’s ideological message for condoning parental abandonment, I still have to give Murphy credit for effectively conveying Augusten’s emotional trauma onscreen. But, like I said earlier, watching Augusten’ parents toss him aside like a piece of unwanted trash overrode any amusement I might have otherwise found in this dryly humorous collection of eccentricity. Honestly, I don’t know if I can give an accurate review of this film because it had such a powerful impact on me. All I can do is recall the audience’s reaction to it; and, for the most part, they seemed to be enjoying themselves. While everyone around me was laughing out loud at the absurdity of Augusten’s world, I sat there alone in the dark crying at his misery. © Kelly Bartley 2006
Running Time:	120 minutes
Release Date:	October 20th, 2006 (limited)
MPAA Rating:	R (strong language and elements of sexuality, violence and substance abuse)
Distributor:	TriStar Pictures