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Edward Scissorhands
USA 1990
produced by Tim Burton, Denise Di Novi, Richard Hashimoto (executive), Caroline Thompson (associate) for 20th Century Fox
directed by Tim Burton
starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Vincent Price, Alan Arkin, Robert Oliveri, Conchata Ferrell, Caroline Aaron, Dick Anthony Williams, O-Lan Jones, Susan Blomaert, Linda Perri, John Davidson, Biff Yeager, Marti Greenberg, Bryan Larkin, John McMahon, Victoria Price, Stuart Lancaster, Gina Gallagher, Aaron Lustig, Alan Fudge, Steven Brill, Kelli Crofton
story by Tim Burton, Caroline Thompson, screenplay by Caroline Thompson, special makeup and scissorhand effects by Stan Winston, miniature effects by Stetson Visual Services, visual effects by VCE
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Peg (Dianne Wiest), a naive yet benign Revlon saleswoman, tries to find
new customers in a rundown castle at the edge of your typical American
suburbia, but all she finds inside is a weird-looking young man, Edward
(Johnny Depp), who just happens to have scissors for hands and a scarred
face (from the scissors, you know) but otherwise seems to be totally
harmless, loveable even ... so Peg takes him home to live with her and her
family. Peg's square and narrow-minded neighbours at first regard Edward
with a bit of distrust, but when they witness him clipping sculptures out
of all the neighbourhood hedges and cutting the4 most eccentric hairstyles
in a matter of seconds, he becomes the talk of the town and the darling of
suburbia. Everybody loves Edward, everybody but Kim (Winona Ryder), Peg's
daughter, who's somehow creeped out by the weird guy - which is a pity,
really, because Edward has fallen in love with her at first sight. Kim's
boyfriend Jim (Anthony Michael Hall) though only sees the possibilities in
the guy with the scissorhands who can open locks in a matter of seconds,
and he has Kim persuade Edward to help them break into Jim's own father's
place. Edward gets caught though, and Kim just cannot persuade Jim to help
him. Edward is released soon after the break-in, but now he's made into
public enemy number one by the neighbourhood - only Kim starts to have
feelings for Edward, much to Jim's dismay, who eventually tries to kill
him, and when that doesn't work, he accuses him of trying to kill Kim's
little brother (Robert Oliveri). Soon the neighbourhood is up in arms, and
Edward returns to the castle he came from - where Kim tracks him down to
confess her love to him. But Jim has come after her, and now he tries to
finish what he hasn't succeeded in so far, to kill Edward. But now the
mild-mannered Edward is pushed beyong his limit, and in self defense he
pushes Jim out of a window to his death. Jim's dead body is soon found by
an angry mob of villagers, but Kim can convince them that Edward has died
along with Jim - even if that also means she will never be able to see
Edward again, who spends the rest of his life in the castle, hiding away
from humankind. Vincent Price plays the scientist who has created
Edward. There are no two ways about it, Edward Scissorhands
is a piece of kitsch. It's still a pretty decent film though because
director Tim Burton is perfectly aware of the cheesiness of the material
and brings it to the screen in a tongue-in-cheek manner - but not in a way
that he makes fun of his own movie, but in a way that he lets subtle irony
and satire undermine the fairy tale story that he tells in all
seriousness. This is a delicate balance of course, and sometimes the film
tips over I have to admit, and it's not without its boring stretches,
either, but there are certain elements in this film (like the clash of
gothic elements and squeaky clean suburbia) that make it almost
irresisitible. And apart from that, a great cast of actors who seem to
understand what Burton is doing doesn't hurt either. All that said, only
watch it if you're ready to swallow quite a bit of kitsch - then though
you will be able to enjoy the film.
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