4/5 not by the book, but captures the spirit of the book
  by AIROLF (USA)
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.

3/5 An uncomfortable, yet valuable life lesson reminder
  by Charles D. Moody (Golden, Colorado USA)
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."


2/5 Good actors in search of a purpose
  by Viva (So. Cal.)
Make no mistake: Annette Bening does a fantastic job here as the mentally unbalanced, frustrated poet, and mother of the real life protagonist, Augusten Burroughs. Alec Baldwin does a nice turn as the alky father, while Paltrow, Wood, Cox, et. al. portray the messy and crazy Finch family which adopts Augusten for a while. Joseph Fiennes is also great in his role as Augusten's sometime lover.

Sure, it's a great cast, but the year that it covers seems to drag on and on, with pervasive musical interludes, an unbelievable portrait of the Finches and their "house," and it is a chore to get through this film. There seems to be no point or purpose, there is very little humor, and it is quite unsatisfying as a memoir.

Too bad these actors are wasted.

3/5 More Like 3.5 - Maybe 4
  by K. Allen (everywhere)
It's hard for me to rate this movie, maybe I should've gone higher. Watching this was the first time I've ever liked a movie better than it's book. To me (and I'm in the minority on this) the book seemed unbelievable. A huge credit to the actors in this film. You could see their motives on their faces, they made unconscionable things human and believable. I don't know if anyone got an award for this, but many certainly should have. Especially Annette Benning. When I read the book, to me the mother was practically soul-less. I couldn't understand how any mother could abandon her child the way she did, she seemed to be a monster. Watching the movie brought to mind a whole host of things I hadn't considered... the drugs that were being prescribed to women during that time, what it must've felt like to be at the beginnings of women's full freedom. The freedom to do anything and the burden of doing everything are just par for the course to my generation, but to women in the 70's it must've been a strange overwhelming, new world. I imagine nervous breakdowns were all the rage.

The down sides for me was it felt a little slow at times and certain things were not explained very well through the story. If you research the good doctor you'll find out that some things were flat out changed or skipped over & believe it or not he actually comes out in a BETTER light in both the movie and the book. It seems unreasonable, shocking or patently false but a little googling confirms an awful lot that you see here. Strange but true. I also didn't like the Disney-esque change from the book. Although, since Augusten's life had so few bright spots the movie might've been too difficult to watch without a little sunshine.

I'd recommend this to someone looking to see a quirky drama or someone engaged in women's studies. If one is especially sensitive to the subjects of molestation, homosexuality or fecal matter, this should proabably be skipped. (I certainly could've lived without seeing some of this.) I'd also recommend that anyone watching the movie also read the book and do a little surfing around to get a little more background on the people represented herein.

One last small thing was the house... it was exactly what I pictured as a read. I've never had a film feel like it popped out of my own mind before. Many props to Augusten for providing such a detailed description of the house and to the set-makers for bringing to full life.

5/5 Excellent!!!!
  by Sandy Barnett
Thank you for your quick handling of our order. It was received before expected and was very happily received.