Edward Scissorhands

Director: Tim Burton
Writer: Caroline Thompson and Tim Burton
Released: 1990
Starring: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and Dianne Wiest
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You’ll either love it or hate it. I happen to love it.

Tim Burton’s quirky and off centre idea of normalcy is shown in Edward Scissorhands which is about a man who was created by an inventor who died before he could complete him – hence the scissors for hands. Edward finds himself embraced into suburbia which challenges the belief system of the small, gossipy population, before everything goes wrong and Edward finds himself in a more confused state than ever.

It does seem like a crazy storyline. A man with scissors for hands? Imagine trying to pitch that to a production company…

“Hey, I had this idea about a guy who was created by an inventor out of leather. But the inventor never finished him so he gave the Frankenstein-like character scissors to compensates for his lack of hands… He can’t pick anything up! And sometimes he accidentally hurts himself and others around him… Like a metaphor really… Yeah. So, we need twenty million dollars.”

Anyway! Burton did get it made, with the actors considered to play Edward Scissorhands including Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson. Thankfully, Burton decided to give the teen idol, Johnny Depp (Alice In Wonderland and Public Enemies), a chance to break his type-cast. Nobody could have played the awkward Edward character any better.

Speaking of casting, one of my favourite actresses, Dianne Wiest, (The Lost Boys and The Horse Whisperer) was the perfect choice to play Peg Boggs, the Avon lady and motherly figure to Edward. She is so sensitive and plays the part of a kind suburban house mum very well.

Caroline Thompson was the screenwriter and collaborated with Tim Burton to come up with the story originally. She has written the screenplays to the likes of The Secret Garden and Black Beauty. She is a genius! One of my idols, for sure.

The sets look like a model set because of all of the pastel colours and cookie-cutter, two dimensional looking houses, especially in contrast with the black, gothic castle that Edward Scissorhands hides out in. It is actually a spectacular set which is an exaggeration of suburbia’s claustrophobia, uniformity and lack of individualism or creativity, which is what Edward Scissorhands inadvertently changes when he is introduced to the neighbourhood.

It is a comedic view on the insanity of normalcy. An entertaining watch – unlike anything you have ever seen before. It is a typical Burton film so if you’re not a fan of his work usually, you may not enjoy the weirdness of Edward Scissorhands. However, the love interest between Edward and Kim (Winona Ryder) as well as the snowy Christmas scenes makes it a great festive movie (despite the somewhat sad ending which Tom Cruise disliked).

A great movie! A fantastical change to the ordinary chick-flicks that flood the market. This is a magical, feel-good fable with a twist that will be appreciated by the whole family.

Jodie’s rating: 7.5/10
I’m not overly convinced that either of these trailers give the best feel of what the movie is really like, but here they are…

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