Uncle Richardo's Movie Review: 'Running With Scissors' extremely non-funny

[Richardo]

I know, the trailer and commercials are cut to make it look like an all star 'wacky family' laugh fest, but:

1) The trailers contain all the funny lines
2) The lines in context are not funny, or only marginally so.

I had to check the cover again, and sure enough, some critic had declared it "The Most Hilarious Film of the Year!" He probably would have said the same thing about 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'; which now that I think about it was exactly the tone this movie had: pretty much all the characters hated each other, yelled all the time and were (with two exceptions) entirely unlikable. :eyes:

I found it tedious, self-indulgent, and s-l-o-w. Mrs. R says I'm not allowed to pick any more movies. :(



On the other hand, 'Mean Girls' was on TBS tonight and I thought that very funny. But I'm a Tina Fey kinda guy anyway.

[AlCzervik]

1. wait--hold on, lemme get my green highlighter.

:D

[Richardo]

2. I know what I saw.

Google Zip Code 97009 for another review :D

[AlCzervik]

4. omg whaaaa? Sure looks like some is full of shit and judging by it's latest

thread i am not surprised at all.

[Richardo]

6. ?

If you're referring to our favorite Bay Area resident's (what was that zip again?) JFK thread, I'm with ya. ;-)

[AlCzervik]

8. ----

94920 and yup, thats the ticket. :rofl:

[eyesroll]

3. I haven't seen RWS, but your review sounds like my review of "Napoleon Dynamite."

Saw it yesterday, finally.
I could have done without.

[Richardo]

5. I got more laughs from Napoleon Dynamite.

Just to give you some scale. ;)

[jonnyblitz]

12. to be honest I wasn't aware this movie was supposed to be

a comedy. I thought the book was kind of dark. :shrug:

[Richardo]

13. If you mean 'RWS'; yes it was heavily marketed as a comedy.

The movie, too is very dark.

[jonnyblitz]

15. so maybe If I don't expect to laugh I won't think the movie is as

bad as if I were expecting a comedy. :shrug:

Yes, I meant RWS, btw. I don't think I would even consider reading "Napoleon Dynamite", the book. :D

[jonnyblitz]

9. yeah that one was highly overrated. i was told I had to watch

it a few times then i would appreciate the beauty of it and "get it". the second time i tried to watch it I yanked it after about 20 minutes, it was unbearable.

[MedleyMisty]

25. How old are you?

I'm wondering if Napoleon Dynamite is a generational thing, because everyone that I know loved it. Including me and my husband.

Well - my brother in law and one of my sisters-in-law didn't like it, not on its own merits or anything, but because it was too popular. I've never understood that opinion.

[eyesroll]

26. I'm 31, supposedly in the film's target demographic.

I don't know..."Freaks and Geeks" is one of my favorite TV shows of all time, but I found ND's early-80s-teen-misfits tedious.

(As for "too popular" -- I can understand expecting the Greatest. Movie. Ever. because of the hype and then being disappointed, to the point where it seems worse than it would if you went in with no expectations...but popularity and quality aren't in themselves mutually exclusive.)

[zonkers]

7. It sucked and dissapointed.

[jonnyblitz]

10. the book amused me. I would still see the movie anyway

out of curiosity.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. no surprise

I found the book awful, and the movie came and went in about 10 minutes.

[Skittles]

14. I can pick a movie

get THE DEPARTED if you haven't seen it, and rent Children of Men when it comes out if you haven't seen it...I agree with Mrs. R if you thought that movie was worthwile based on the trailer you need your ass kicked. :D

[Richardo]

19. Who more qualified than you to recommend an ass-kicking, Skittles?

...and yes, 'The Departed' was excellent.

[swag]

16. The memoir was diverting, as was "Dry" which followed.

Never imagined that either would make a good movie.

Good airplane reading, though. Certainly better company than the laughably implausible Confessions of an Economic Hit-Man or the painfully unreadable The World is Flat for a few hours in flight.

[HuffleClaw]

17. yet another very poorly marketed movie

not funny at all. disturbing, dramatic, sad, creepy and scary. but not funny.

[Bunny]

18. They just *loved* it over at Rotten Tomatoes.

:sarcasm: Sounds like a real turkey:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/running_with_scissors/

[Richardo]

20. Oh it is a turkey.

I usually do a LITTLE more homework than relying on the trailers. But I hadn't even heard any buzz, positive or negative, about it. Maybe THAT should have told me something. :eyes:

[terrya]

21. Hell, I thought it was more of a drama than a comedy.

I agree. It wasn't the big laughfest I thought it would be. Although, once again, Annette Bening turned in a terrific performance.

[Richardo]

22. Do you agree with my comparison with "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

It was just so unremittingly angry. x(

[terrya]

24. Yes, I do agree with you.

Hey, Augusten Burroughs has a lot to be angry about. But don't advertise this movie as some sort of yukfest. There is a lot of anger in this film. And the "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" comparison is very apt.

[Felix Mala]

23. The book was horrible, too. I only liked the descriptions of Northampton,

Amherst and other Happy Valley locales because I've toured that area extensively.

[sundog]

27. thanks for the review n/t