Why does everyone seen to hate this movie?
I'm not looking for an argument here, I'm just intrigued. I quite enjoyed it! Am I the only one?
FreedomBeautyTruthLove
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MovieChat Forums > Running with Scissors (2006) Discussion > Why does everyone seen to hate this movi...
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It's great to see love for RWS! I think alot of people panned this because it's very complex, and people wanted a satire, much like Royal Tananbaums(sp?), and they got a psychodrama with threads of Augusten's incredibly wicked and delightful sense of humor. I think those that appreciated the movie were able to discrimate and appreciate both elements, and remain humbled to the moving character development and wrenching depictions of humanity and mental illness that lie at the core. Those who wanted something that was strictly a bunch of outrageous laughs were disappointed. I'm glad to see that some people really appreciated this!
Have you read the book? It's just phenomenal, as is all of augusten's memoirs!
"You're maudlin and full of self-pity. You're magnificent!"
-- George Sanders, All About Eve
I always think, that reading biographies or memoirs is the best way to live one's (author's) life, i mean you can feel like you are the person whose biography you'r reading . You read the book, you would have been much familiar with the characters, and then. . . you'll love this movie.
Since i haven't read the book, and as to do so by itself, i hate to admit . . . . but had to say, movie was a failure for me. It wasn't able to make me live the life of Augusten, maybe that's the reason why i could not relate to the characters. So i had to say, it's not like i hate the movie, but it isn't the best biographical film for me.
I agree it's a hard story to cope with, or to feel like the author, but i still love it. It was worthy of Ryan Murphy bizarre ideas. Like NP just much crazier.
I loved it.
"Now I order the two of you to make OUT in order to make UP!!! []" - AG from Alias MB
I enjoyed watching this movie. However, it was depressing.
What a terrible thing it is that children are brought into the world and left to the impact of dysfunctional people - and children have no defenses. Really, the scenes with Augusten's birth parents were bad enough - when his mother abandoned him to the looneys in the Finch household, they made his birth parents look positively wholesome in comparison.
That the would end up being exploited by a 35 year old man and engaging in homosexual relations with him at the ages of 14 and 15 is not surprising to me. No one was protecting this kid. I'm not surprised he felt the identity of 'gay' because every single thing about his life screamed 'outsider'!
Going to a prom? Puh-leeze. Playing sports, going to class. This kid had already buried himself halfway under the ground to escape from life before he was even 10. It's heartbreaking to see that happen to a kid. He never really had sympathy from the people in his life. An older guy wanting to have back-door sex with him had to pass for affection. Even then, the guy didn't care for him all that much and didn't look back once he was on a bus on his way out of town, never to be heard from or seen again.
I don't care if Augusten Burroughs considers himself a 'well-adjusted gay man' today and has found some semblance of stability with some other gay guy. Augusten the little boy never had a chance. It's heart-wrenching to see one person step up to give him support and money when he's finally ready to make his escape. For this reason, I loved the ending of the movie. And I loved the Finch mother who gave up her savings to help young Augusten.
Many, many people come from dysfunctional families just maybe not as odd as that one but just as crippling emotionally in a different way. I think all parents should have to attend parenting classes. Just look at the narcissistic entitlement generation that has been created today due to poor parenting.
IMDb; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...another poster
they hate it coz everyone has a family like that LOL
great movie
Maybe they were looking for "answers" and all they got was "Nope. This is the way it is, end of the story" :o)
I don't know why, but I feel that the reasons behind the hate for this movie are the same behind the hate for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" - but don't ask me what makes my brain compare the two.
hollywood has had to many easy answers to questions noone seem to know !!
shareI LOVE IT.
it is flipping hilarious.
The script if pure comedic perfection and the actors are a delight to watch.
I'm almost posotive people disliked this movie because it was advertised to the wrong audience. I felt it was advertised as a much lighter comedy/drama then it actully was, for instance on the DVD version of this that I have the word "Wacky" is used to describe the family, which is a completly wrong word to use and does not describe the family properly in my opininion and just gives off the wrong mood. Obiously if you had read the book you would realize whats instore for you but the average viewer who sees the cheery and slitly off beat cover at the video store will be completly taken off guard when they watch it.
-LUKE
Oh!
P.S and by the way I absolutly HATED this movie, but while watching it I could see that it was well made just not my cup of tea. I just thought the fact that i didn't like the movie may make it more intoresting to hear a more no-biase point of view. Also a word to those millions of posters who seemply reply to posts like this with a message along the lines of "This movie was amazing anyone who disagrees is a *beep* sucking moron!" TRY TO BE A BIT LESS HOSTILE AND A BIT MORE UNDERSTANDING THAT NOT EVERYONE SHARES YOUR OPINION!
-Luke
I will agree the mis-advertisement of this film.
I actually enjoyed the movie. My boyfriend showed it to me, and I went in blind. I had no idea if it was a comedy or a drama.
It has some humorous moments and so does American Beauty, and even Romeo and Juliet.
But over all, I felt this movie was more akin to a tragedy than a comedy.
I disagree on the hating party. I liked it. It isn't the greatest film I've ever seen, but Annette Benning was brilliant, and the story made my boyfriend cry. It is a tragic slice of life/coming of age tale.
The happiest moment for me is when he gets on the bus, and leaves.
Hah. Because everyone thinks they're too good for it.
JK, JK.
I loved it so much. :)
One of my top favorites.
People have their own opinions thooooough.
I love how whenever a movie gets panned there is always someone on the messages board claiming that everyone hated it because they didn't get it because it was too complex, blah blah blah. THe problem with the movie is the exact opposite it is too simple, a one joke movie and that joke is that the shrink and his family are crazier than the mother. Ho ho. Someone here made a comparison with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which is interesting because that is also a one joke movie. The book, although that great or life affirming by any means, but at least interesting and entertaining, works because it has the feel of a child recollecting these strange memories back. It has no narrative flow but is instead just a collection of passages from his childhood. How true it is is up for debate but that's not the issue. The film however just goes way over the top, makes every character into a charicture and tries so desperately hard to get laughs that it fails misserably. The book was not a comedy it was more an offbeat coming of age story that just so happened to be funny because 1) the charcter were crazy but 2) augusten burroughs presents them in a funny light because his writing is so matter of fact, as if he is sharing god honest memories instead of just being quirky. Wheter or not he exaggerated for comic effect is of no consequence because if he did, his writing doesn't give it away. The movie has no such conviction and that's why people don't like it.
sharethats the silliest thing i have heard on this movie !!
This movie is so light-hearted that the sad parts are left to the viewers to decide: what the shrink did to the mother, to his wife, to his girls.
the toilet scene must be the saddest part in a movie EVER that doesnt have guts and blood everywhere; that one scene says to much !! About the shrink, about his family, about augusten's mother.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wSHNRJO-Ow
"Now i will never get into NASA"
People hate this movie because it does the book upon which it was based a great disservice. It lacks nuance and charm. None of the characters feel fleshed out or believable, and it's overly precious and sentimental.
I'm not saying the book was perfect; far from it. But it was interesting and charming. The movie tries SO hard to be cute, but it's just not. They also water it down by changing a good amount of the content. It's not about Augusten enough, and there's no sassyness to speak of.
Now if they made a movie of Dry, I bet that would be something special.
Augusten was just our narrator through whose eyes we glimpsed a wierd world.
i thought it was cute withe a lot of sassiness: the girls were pure sass !!
annette did great as well.
that scene where augusten and girl made the skyline and the father just joked about it was great. dont know why the irs are taxing that old broken house
I bought this film on a whim. I vaguley remember it being released and thought it sounded like my sort of film. It surpassed my expectations. I haven't read the book and so I'll make no comparisons. I'm always wary about people comparing books to their filmic counterparts. The mediums are very different and it is often unfair to make a direct comaparison between the two. A film maker has circa two hours to distil what he/she thinks is most important about a work and make it into something visual. This film had so many instances where it could have gone down a very obvious route and it kept dodging it, right until the end. Yes, the ending wasn't a massive twist, but as the film progressed it managed to fit in alot of story in the time given, without seeming rushed. Someone mentioned that it reminded them of Fear and Loathing in Las Vagas, for me it had more resonance with Requiem for a Dream (albeit in a more light hearted and less soul crushing way). For me, this wasn't a perfect film but it appealed to my tastes and I'd recomend it to people who like the sort of films that are best watched at home as apposed to on the big screen.
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