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Movies / On DVD / Running with Scissors
Running with Scissors

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Running with Scissors (2006)

29%
31%
53%
N/A
N/A
N/A
29 %
Reviews Counted: 126 Fresh: 37  Rotten:89 Average Rating: 4.9/10
 
Consensus: Despite a few great performances, the film lacks the sincerity and emotional edge of Burroughs' well-loved memoir.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

Theatrical Release: 2006

Box Office: $6,754,898

Synopsis: Based on the bestselling memoir by Augusten Burroughs, RUNNING WITH SCISSORS features an all-star cast including Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Evan Rachel Wood, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Alec Baldwin. As a child, Augusten (Joseph Cross) completely adores his narcissistic mother Deirdre... Based on the bestselling memoir by Augusten Burroughs, RUNNING WITH SCISSORS features an all-star cast including Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Evan Rachel Wood, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Alec Baldwin. As a child, Augusten (Joseph Cross) completely adores his narcissistic mother Deirdre (Bening). Her biggest fan, he encourages her goal of becoming a published poet when no one else will. But while these dreams of grandeur seem innocent through Augusten's young eyes, they grow more delusional with time, slowly wearing on the family and contributing to its demise. While a teenage Augusten skips school and his father Norman (Alec Baldwin) uses alcohol to escape, Deirdre calls in an eccentric psychiatrist for an outside opinion. Dr. Finch's advice ends up being anything but professional, however, as his looseness with prescriptions and wacko theories end Deirdre's dysfunctional marriage and prompt her to abandon Augusten. Left to spend his teenage years as part of Dr. Finch's outlandish family, Augusten struggles to find himself while surrounded by a series of tormented and over-analyzed individuals. Director Ryan Murphy relies heavily on music to express the emotions of his characters and to ground viewers in time, bringing the memoir to life with classic 1970s songs by Elton John, the Average White Band, and Nat King Cole. Seemingly modeled visually after Wes Anderson's THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, the film revolves around intricately over-the-top sets which aim to reflect the neuroses of its characters. In making most of the film as dramatic as possible, Murphy sometimes threatens to overshadow what are undeniably fine actors at work. The film's saving grace comes in its non-fiction source material, as viewers without that knowledge may find the characters too peculiar and the story too unbelievable for their own good. [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Annette Bening, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jill Clayburgh, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes

Director: Ryan Murphy
Producer: Dede Gardner, Brad Pitt, Brad Grey, Matt Kennedy

DVD Info

Release:

Feb 6, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.40

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Dubbed - French, Portuguese, Spanish - Optional
  • Subtitles - Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish - Optional

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Full Review | comment Comment
03/31/07
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

For every aspect that is depressing, there something that is fresh and uplifting, and it is credit to writer director Ryan Murphy for capturing the mood of Burroughs' book so faithfully.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/23/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
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3/5

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Full Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
Ratings Image
5/11

Running With Scissors is a schizophrenic film. It simply doesn't know what it wants to be %u2014 a witty and wacky satire, or a serious and heartfelt drama.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com
Ratings Image
N/A

It's a story populated by characters not people, all displaying wildly antisocial behaviors for the seeming purpose of giving the teenage Burroughs something to write about when older. It may be factual but it is not truth.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/14/07
Kevin Koehler
Pretentious Musings
Ratings Image
3/4

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Full Review | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
Ratings Image
N/A

The excruciating display of bohemian spoils wears the word "delightful" in quotation marks, with a theatre accent.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/15/07
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
02/10/07
Philip French
Observer [UK]
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4/6

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Full Review | comment Comment
02/03/07
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
02/03/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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Ratings Image
3/5

The first half rolls along like an excitable child hoping to entertain with each new stunt. But it loses the book's dark humour. Running with Scissors? More like a stumble.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/02/07
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper
Ratings Image
2/5

Running With Scissors has a great cast and an appropriately chaotic nature, but it never really adds up to anything and fails to hit its emotional targets.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/01/07
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image
N/A

In its attempt to capture Burroughs' wacky, often wrenching teen years, the film is unified mainly by an impulse toward overstatement.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/31/07
Michelle Orange
Reeler
Ratings Image
2/5

Well-acted by the superb ensemble cast but there just isn't a likeable character amongst them to care about.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/29/07
Will Lawrence
Empire Magazine
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N/A

Sadly fails to sustain its original interest.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/29/07
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
01/25/07
Time Out
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C-

I had hoped, I guess, that the film would do justice to the book, but sadly that is not the case. If I were you, go out and spend the money on the paperback, curl up and give yourself over to the wacky world Burroughs' creates. It'll be more fulfilling th

Full Review | comment Comment
01/11/07
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews
N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
BBC
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N/A

Murphy's adaptation is bright, lively and fast-paced, but the movie is relentless in its outlandishness.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/01/06
Kevin Lally
Film Journal International
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2.5/5

We can really feel writer-director Murphy straining for both wacky hilarity and touching emotion. And never quite getting there.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/25/06
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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Related Forums

0% - *gasp*
by: CannibalPenguins 8/17/07

I really liked this movie!
by: chuchu 8/17/07

H.R. and Variety are actually GOOD reviews.
by: cranbalanfan 4/28/07

REEL_REVIEWER
(2006)-RUNNING WITH SCISSORS will be released October 20th (EXPANDS Oct. 27th)
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/14/06

REEL_REVIEWER
(2006)-RUNNING WITH SCISSORS will be released October 20th (EXPANDS Oct. 27th)
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/14/06
all

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Trailers & Clips

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    Joseph Cross & Augusten Burroughs
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    Joseph Fiennes & Evan Rachel Wood
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    Annette Bening
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Around the Network

• Running with Scissors at Rotten Tomatoes
• Running with Scissors at IGN
• Running with Scissors at AskMen
 
 
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