"Running with Scissors"

I love a good period piece and "Running with Scissors" certainly is that, serving up a delicious helping of high-70's retro-camp. From short- shorts, to macrame halter tops, to Annete Bening's silky hipster moo moo with matching skull cap, to a wood paneled red Ford staion wagon; this flick is one big happy nod to my childhood memory bank.

Sure it has a less edgy feel than the Augusten Burroughs memoir that it was based upon, but the performances and rich cinematography more than make up for this shortcoming. Sometimes form can trump substance. The book's power is rooted in it's ability to convey a deeply disturbing story while maintaining a light and intensly funny vibe. The film less so.

"Running with Scissors" is more about the performance than the screenplay, with Annette Bening stealing almost every scene. She walked a high wire between witty narcissist and whacked out psycho with success and ease. Rachel Wood plays the perfect Lolita-style Natalie (I LOVED HER), while Jill Clayburg breathes life into an otherwise vapid Agnes Finch (as does Alec Baldwin with his Norman Burroughs.) Both Norman & Agnes left barely visible foot prints in the book; not so the movie. Joseph Cross plays the quintessential Augusten Burroughs. Again, I could go on and on. Suffice to say this movie is well cast and brilliantly performed.

Does the screenplay lack the raw power of the original memoir? Yes. Is the original a more tawdry and pungent account of a zany if not horrific childhood? Definitely. Do I care? Not really. Besides, the sountrack kicks ass.