Be prepared for a warped movie
Added 1/26/2010
The back of the DVD case called the movie a "wickedly funny" tale. Not true at all. It is one of those very warped movies, true or not, that makes you feel sick to your stomach. I tend to like the more unusual, moving films, but this is over the line. Reminds me of the Squid and the Whale. I feel very sorry for the author if this truly is based on his life.
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Great cast, but missing the dark humor of the book
Added 12/30/2009
I had high expectations for this movie - I had read the book and knew that the cast had great potential. The actors were great in portraying their roles - from Annette Bening as the eccentric mother to Gwenyth Paltrow as the obedient daughter, but the plot of the movie missed the biting dark humor that had put the novel in the top 10 of my collection. I'm afraid that, if I had seen the movie before reading the book, I might not have read the book.
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SO NOT THE BOOK!!!
Added 11/30/2009
If you've read the book, this movie adaptation will disappoint you. It barely resembles the book and really cheats the Borroughs fan who views it expecting the story in dramatization form. The movie gives little of the background circumstances that lead to the events of the premise. The story is oddly weighted to generically display a cast of characters in farce with none of the underlying sadness that the book had to propel the reader through. The characters are simply quirky and odd, not three dimensional and believable. The character of Augusten is played by an actor too old for the story and his naivete is absurd because of it. The sexual awakening in frightening and odd circumstances is watered down in the few minutes that it is even presented in this lackluster flop. Such a ridiculous rendering of what is a funny, sad, and provocative story. Take your scissors and run far far away from this movie!
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not by the book, but captures the spirit of the book
Added 10/13/2009
An exceptionally well-done adaptation of the book. Unlike a typical film, where the screenwriter thinks he or she knows better than the original bestselling author, Ryan Murphy (who also directed and produced this film) trusts the original material enough to adapt the majority of it. The casting for this movie is superb too - from the surprising appearance of Joseph Fiennes as the mentally deranged 35-year-old Bookman, who has an affair with the protagonist, to Annette Bening cast as the protagonist's mother, a woman who comes further apart at the seams with each scene we see her in to Rachel Evan Wood and Gwyneth Paltrow as the perfect fit sisters and daughters of the psychiatrist who adopts the main character.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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An uncomfortable, yet valuable life lesson reminder
Added 10/12/2009
Because I have seen opportunistic therapists and a greedy Denver divorce attorney take advantage of and harm my family, the movie reminds me that we must make our own decisions when seeking assistance from doctors, therapists, and lawyers and always to get second and third independent opinions when unsure. For me, the movie reminds us to limit the influence of these and other professionals so that they serve as informational consultants to, not authoritarian directors of our lives.
My synopsis of Running with Scissors:
An angry spouse blames the other spouse
and projects "violent tendencies" onto the other spouse.
The therapist takes the side of the angry spouse
for self benefit for money and more,
works to inflame issues,
works to split couple,
pushes drugs (valium).
The therapist and lawyer take control,
leave client in much worse shape, physically, psychologically, and financially,
and leave children in much worse shape, too.
Too bad the therapist does not challenge the client to understand and dispute her irrational beliefs per Albert Ellis.
In 1968, Albert Ellis wrote "Is Psychoanalysis Harmful?" in Psychiatric Opinion, Vol 5, No. 1, January 1986, pp. 16-25, (revised 2002, available from the Albert Ellis Institute).
He writes:
"Probably the greatest harm that psychoanalysis does is its tendency to sidetrack clients from what they had better do to improve and to give them a "good" excuse not to work hard at helping themselves."
"Expression of hostility, moreover, is one of the best psychological copouts. By convincing herself that other people are awful and that they deserve to be hated, the client can easily ignore her own maladaptive behavior and self-loathing and can nicely avoid doing anything to look into her own heart and to change her irrational thinking and her dysfunctional feelings and acts."
"By failing to show the client how to change her anger-creating views and by encouraging her to become more hostile in many instances, it tends to harm probably the majority of analytic clients (or should we say victims?)."
"Psychoanalysis...is such a long-winded, time-consuming, expensive process that it often takes many of the best years of clients' lives and prevents them from using these years productively."
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Be prepared for a warped movie
Added 1/26/2010
The back of the DVD case called the movie a "wickedly funny" tale. Not true at all. It is one of those very warped movies, true or not, that makes you feel sick to your stomach. I tend to like the more unusual, moving films, but this is over the line. Reminds me of the Squid and the Whale. I feel very sorry for the author if this truly is based on his life.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Great cast, but missing the dark humor of the book
Added 12/30/2009
I had high expectations for this movie - I had read the book and knew that the cast had great potential. The actors were great in portraying their roles - from Annette Bening as the eccentric mother to Gwenyth Paltrow as the obedient daughter, but the plot of the movie missed the biting dark humor that had put the novel in the top 10 of my collection. I'm afraid that, if I had seen the movie before reading the book, I might not have read the book.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
SO NOT THE BOOK!!!
Added 11/30/2009
If you've read the book, this movie adaptation will disappoint you. It barely resembles the book and really cheats the Borroughs fan who views it expecting the story in dramatization form. The movie gives little of the background circumstances that lead to the events of the premise. The story is oddly weighted to generically display a cast of characters in farce with none of the underlying sadness that the book had to propel the reader through. The characters are simply quirky and odd, not three dimensional and believable. The character of Augusten is played by an actor too old for the story and his naivete is absurd because of it. The sexual awakening in frightening and odd circumstances is watered down in the few minutes that it is even presented in this lackluster flop. Such a ridiculous rendering of what is a funny, sad, and provocative story. Take your scissors and run far far away from this movie!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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