Running with Scissors

Running with Scissors is a bad movie. Very bad. It's like being stuck in an elevator with a group of maniacs. The whole production is overdone - overacted, overwritten, and way too long.

Annette Bening takes her character from American Beauty and ups the ante about 100 degrees - she's either sobbing, yelling, smashing things, or delirious in nearly every scene.

The film seems content to just be weird, and weird it is, one scene after another, again and again and again until the audience is just praying for some peace and quiet. I wanted to get away from these miserable people, this bipolar experience, this overwrought film.

As for Oscars...

- Annette Bening is out (unless the rest of competition seriously doesn't show up).
- Jill Clayburgh is perhaps the best thing about the movie, but her role is too small and quirky, so she's out.
- Brian Cox is out.
- The screenplay is out.

The reviews will be mediocre at best. I doubt audiences will enjoy this; my audience certainly didn't. So, I'm sorry to say it, but I think Running with Scissors is dead... (now we know the answer to why Sony Pictures hasn't been letting many people see it yet).

Rating: *1/2 (out of ****)
Opens Oct. 20