Running with Scissors was, well, interesting. Kind of. It started out that way, in a very definite sense. The film's best moments were the early ones, before it degenerated into lunacy that was just more painful to watch than entertaining. The entire second half consists solely of the movie ending. Over and over and over again. While I've had this complaint with other movies, it's generally been from the standpoint of "this could have been paced better." In most cases, I wouldn't actually want to see the film ended any earlier because valuable additions are made to the story, albeit in a manner that left something to be desired. However, in Running with Scissors, we're given nothing new. It's just anvil after anvil of "look, how strange" that just left me feeling kind of tired. The characters were, by and large, very unlikable across t he board. They weren't particularly funny or pleasant. There didn't seem to be a good deal of style or charm in their characterizations. It was just a vaguely detached slice of an oddball existence that left me rather cold.
This is not to say the movie isn't without it's charms. The early scenes between Annette Bening and Alec Baldwin are charged with that classic Hollywood bickering energy (albeit with a bit of a twist), and their first meeting with Brian Cox's Dr. Finch is priceless. Gwyneth Paltrow's all-too brief turn as Finch's eldest daughter was convincing, and left me wishing she had considerably more screentime. In general, however, the film's depiction of insanity was more repetitive than anything. Potentially worth watching for fans of quirk, but you won't miss out if you wait for DVD or cable.
Leave a comment