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.
This is an Igby Goes Down without the laughs, a morbid miscalculation of The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou size.
– Roger Moore,
Orlando Sentinel,
27 Oct 2006
rotten:
If the book was deadpan, the movie is more -- or less -- dead.
– Steven Rea,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
27 Oct 2006
rotten:
Running with Scissors looks great, and works fine when Bening is on screen; otherwise, it's off-balance, teetering where it should hold steady.
– Moira MacDonald,
Seattle Times,
27 Oct 2006
rotten:
As dysfunctional family movies go, this is one skip. It doesn't just run with the scissors, it falls on them.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
29 Oct 2006
rotten:
In the real world, mental illness is a serious problem. In this film, it gives everyone a license to run around like characters in a Lewis Carroll story -- all of it set to predictable pop hits from the 1970s.