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...
Review of Running with Scissors
