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IMDbPro

Running with Scissors

  • 20062006
  • RR
  • 1h 56m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
23K
YOUR RATING
Running with Scissors (2006)
Home Video Trailer from Columbia Pictures
Play trailer2:29
7 Videos
40 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finc... Read allYoung Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.Young Augusten Burroughs absorbs experiences that could make for a shocking memoir: the son of an alcoholic father and an unstable mother, he's handed off to his mother's therapist, Dr. Finch, and spends his adolescent years as a member of Finch's bizarre extended family.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
23K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Ryan Murphy
  • Writers
    • Ryan Murphy(screenplay)
    • Augusten Burroughs(book "Running with Scissors: A Memoir")
  • Stars
    • Joseph Cross
    • Annette Bening
    • Brian Cox
Top credits
  • Director
    • Ryan Murphy
  • Writers
    • Ryan Murphy(screenplay)
    • Augusten Burroughs(book "Running with Scissors: A Memoir")
  • Stars
    • Joseph Cross
    • Annette Bening
    • Brian Cox
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 200User reviews
    • 135Critic reviews
    • 52Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 7 nominations

    Videos7

    Running with Scissors
    Trailer 2:29
    Running with Scissors
    Running with Scissors
    Clip 0:33
    Running with Scissors
    Running with Scissors
    Clip 0:43
    Running with Scissors
    Running with Scissors
    Clip 0:46
    Running with Scissors
    Running with Scissors
    Interview 0:23
    Running with Scissors
    Running with Scissors
    Interview 0:32
    Running with Scissors
    Running with Scissors
    Interview 0:21
    Running with Scissors

    Photos40

    Gwyneth Paltrow, Jill Clayburgh, Brian Cox, and Evan Rachel Wood in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Gwyneth Paltrow in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Annette Bening in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Brian Cox in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Gwyneth Paltrow in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Kristin Chenoweth in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Annette Bening and Joseph Cross in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Jill Clayburgh and Joseph Cross in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Annette Bening and Brian Cox in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Gabrielle Union in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Joseph Cross in Running with Scissors (2006)
    Annette Bening in Running with Scissors (2006)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Joseph Cross
    Joseph Cross
    • Augusten Burroughs
    Annette Bening
    Annette Bening
    • Deirdre Burroughs
    Brian Cox
    Brian Cox
    • Dr. Finch
    Gwyneth Paltrow
    Gwyneth Paltrow
    • Hope Finch
    Joseph Fiennes
    Joseph Fiennes
    • Neil Bookman
    Evan Rachel Wood
    Evan Rachel Wood
    • Natalie Finch
    Alec Baldwin
    Alec Baldwin
    • Norman Burroughs
    Jill Clayburgh
    Jill Clayburgh
    • Agnes Finch
    Gabrielle Union
    Gabrielle Union
    • Dorothy
    Patrick Wilson
    Patrick Wilson
    • Michael Shephard
    Kristin Chenoweth
    Kristin Chenoweth
    • Fern Stewart
    Dagmara Dominczyk
    Dagmara Dominczyk
    • Suzanne
    Colleen Camp
    Colleen Camp
    • Joan
    Jack Kaeding
    Jack Kaeding
    • Six-Year-Old Augusten Burroughs
    Gabriel Guedj
    • Poo
    Nancy Cassaro
    • Christy - 1978 Poetry Club
    Omid Abtahi
    Omid Abtahi
    • Restaurant Manager
    Julie Remala
    • Restaurant Waitress
    • Director
      • Ryan Murphy
    • Writers
      • Ryan Murphy(screenplay)
      • Augusten Burroughs(book "Running with Scissors: A Memoir")
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Julianne Moore was originally attached to play Deirdre Burroughs.
    • Goofs
      In 1978 the Gothic soap opera "Dark Shadows" was being shown on the TV in Dr. Finch's house. The show was cancelled in 1971 and wasn't shown in reruns on cable until the 80s.
    • Quotes

      Dr. Finch: You can't come in here, this is my mastabatorium!

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Babel/Catch a Fire/Running with Scissors/Death of a President/The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      Bossa Whistle
      Written by Alessandro Alessandroni and Giuliano Sorgini

      Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music

    User reviews200

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Running with Scissors is strange and psychotically contagious
    Running with Scissors reviewed by Sam Osborn

    I've become all too wary of memoirs lately. Not because of the James Frey debacle, but because they've become the literary equivalent of the biopic at the movies. Just as I've grown tired of seeing the rise and inevitable fall of infamous icons during Oscar season, I've grown tired of plowing through the literary lives of men and women compelled to account their abusive childhoods, sexual deviancy, problems with drugs and alcohol, and, the real must, their harebrained families. The books sell well because readers love gossip, scandal, and melodrama. Running with Scissors has no shortage of such pulpy details, as its hero, Augusten Burroughs, has all the makings of memoir sentimentality. He was born into a selfish, dysfunctional family, adopted by his mother's psychiatrist, attempted suicide, turned out to be gay, and was exposed to sex at a young age under the hands of a man much past his age. His life was, if nothing else, screwed up enough to put into a book. But while I'm a pessimist to the genre, Running with Scissors is strange and psychotically contagious.

    To oversimplify the matter, the film is a collection of people dealing with their issues. Heading up the Burroughs family is Norman Burroughs (Alec Baldwin), a business man with the sedated lick of alcoholism whose only wish seems to be to sidestep his wife's raging narcissism. Dierdre (Annete Bening), his wife, is a selfish would-be writing starlet whose lack of talent is constantly at odds with the confidence that she deserves a Nobel Prize. Her failure she blames on the supposed acts of sabotage by Norman, of which she confides in her only son Augusten. The family begins counseling with Doctor Finch (Brian Cox), the man who eventually adopts Augusten when Norman walks out and Dierdre begins popping Valium like prescription Skittles. The Finch family seems to be no upgrade though, as Agnes (Jill Clayburgh), the mother, is first seen munching on dog kibble, Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow), the favored daughter, is known to talk to her cat Freud, and Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood), the second daughter, tries to open Augusten up by using electro-shock therapy. Their home is an old-money palace painted blazing pink, with various lawn furniture, cobbled windows, and a Christmas tree that's been erect for over two years.

    My Mother happens to be mildly obsessed with Augusten Burroughs. She speaks of his stories and literary adventures as though they're the loopy reveries of a second son she birthed into paperback. So several months ago I took her to our hometown bookshop, The Boulder Bookstore, to see Mr. Burroughs speak on his most recent book, Magical Thinking. I'd read a few of his stories at my Mom's urgent requests and flipped through a couple chapters of his first memoir (the film's source), Running with Scissors, in preparation. I knew enough, I felt, to hold my own in a book signing. But as the first hand was raised during the Q&A segment of the presentation, a woman asked how Augusten's dog was doing, how his partner was holding up, if they'd purchased that house he mentioned, and if those shoes were still in mint condition. I was obviously behind the curve. Mr. Burroughs has entrusted so much of his intimate life with his writing. It's organic and swelling with humor drawn from a frank self-awareness that doesn't embarrass him or his readers. His audience isn't a third-party to his life, they're all his closest friends; quite a job for rookie feature Writer/Director Ryan Murphy.

    Murphy approaches the material very cinematically, using every magic trick offered to him by his technicians. This is no shaky, documentary-style memoir that shreds cinema to the tatters of the broken characters on screen. Murphy's characters are heightened to hyperbolic altitude, but are anchored to a reality only gotten from the pages of non-fiction accounting. His film is tightly-knit, too, with every line of dialogue truly used and with characters' stories intertwined into a family of glowing psychosis. It makes for a film constructed from quirk and color, but Murphy's characters can't seem to escape from being so human. They deal with their issues, but like humans, rarely manage to solve them. It can be appalling and sometimes painful, but Burroughs and Murphy's stories are just too lovely to turn your back to.

    Rating: 3.5 out of 4

    Sam Osborn
    helpful•134
    58
    • samseescinema
    • Oct 21, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 27, 2006 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Sony Pictures (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 一刀未剪的童年
    • Filming locations
      • Milbank & McFie House - 3340 Country Club Drive, Midtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Plan B Entertainment
      • Sound for Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $12,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $7,022,827
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $226,108
      • Oct 22, 2006
    • Gross worldwide
      • $7,460,797
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 56 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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