Running with Scissors
Adapted/Directed by: Ryan Murphy
Starring: Annette Benning, Brian Cox, Joseph Cross, Joseph Fiennes, Alec Baldwin, Gwyneth Paltrow, Evan Rachel Wood, Jill Clayburgh
Rated: R for strong language and elements of sexuality, violence and substance abuse.
Parental Notes: This isn’t a terribly strong R, but it does deserve the rating. It’s not graphic but the emotional violence makes it unsuitable for youngsters.
Every so often a movie comes along that allows many of its viewers to appreciate how decent their childhoods seem in comparison to the one on the screen. Sure, we were picked on in school, but at least our fathers weren’t raging alcoholics. Or sure, Dad hit the bottle, but at least Mom wasn’t a raging narcissist with regular psychotic breaks. Or sure, things were hard but at least we weren’t handed over to the family shrink to spend our formative years in a sort of outpatient insane asylum. Maybe our first boyfriend was a jerk, but at least he wasn’t schizophrenic and over twice our age. Augusten Burroughs went through all that and more, and detailed it in his memoir “Running with Scissors.” Writer/Director Ryan Murphy has adapted the book for the screen, and assembled a top-notch cast to bring this darkly hilarious tale to life.
Augusten (Joseph Cross) grew up with his mother Dierdre (Annette Benning), who frequently keeps him home from school to read him her poetry and declaim to him about how she was destined for greatness. His father Norman (Alec Baldwin) seems resigned to his wife’s issues and his son’s eccentricities (Augusten polishes his allowance because he “likes shiny things”) but turns to drink. The family begins therapy with Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), who says he needs to see them five hours a day, every day. Dierdre is game, but Norman protests that he has to work. “See, I told you!” Dierdre proclaims triumphantly, “I’m married to a narcissist!” Not surprisingly, the family falls apart when Augusten is in middle school. Dierdre sends Augusten to live with Dr. Finch, convinced that Norman is planning to kill her and that Augusten will be safer that way.
Augusten discovers that the Finch household makes his own look positively stable. Finch’s wife Agnes (Jill Clayburgh) munches dog kibble while watching “Dark Shadows.” The elder daughter, Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow), receives psychic communications from her cat, Freud. The younger daughter, Natalie (Evan Rachel Ward), is Augusten’s age and something of a kindred spirit. The house is a wreck, with unwashed dishes everywhere and a Christmas tree that’s been up for two years. When Natalie and Augusten snap and smash a hole in the kitchen ceiling, Dr. Finch is perfectly fine with it. “It brings a sense of humor to the room,” he tells them benignly. Finch is even fine with Augusten, who comes out as gay around this time, starts dating a former patient and adopted son of Finch’s, Bookman (Joseph Fiennes), who hears voices shouting at him.
Much of the humor of “Running with Scissors” comes from the dissonance between the chaos surrounding Augusten and everyone’s reactions to it. He seems to be the only one who finds Dr. Finch’s household problematic, and when he starts acting out in an attempt to get a little structure to his life, nobody stops him, least of all his over-medicated mother. Cross offers a solid performance as the eccentric, overwhelmed Augusten; although he is several years older than his character and that is occasionally a bit of a problem, his acting brings the difficult character to life well enough that it’s hard to complain about his age.
The supporting cast is so talented it seems a shame to call them “supporting.” Cox is in his element as the madman-cum-doctor, showing us both Finch’s utter confidence in his ability to help people and his borderline insanity. The entire Finch family runs the risk of being reduced to cardboard cutouts of neuroses, but Paltrow, Ward, and Clayburgh bring a surprising humanity to their roles. Paltrow in particular brings out aspects of Hope which the audience can relate to even as she shows us how insane the woman really is. Benning is fantastic, showing us Dierdre at both ends of her emotional spectrum as well as all points in between, and even portraying her while heavily medicated without missing a step. Baldwin has all too small a role, but he brings Norman’s weariness and resignation to life.
“Running with Scissors” isn’t exactly lighthearted. It’s incredibly funny in the same way that Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H” is: you are shown people in impossible situations and have to laugh with them because otherwise you’d be struck dumb by the horror of it. If that’s your cup of tea, do not miss this film.