More than skin deep.

Rating: 9/10 (18 August 2007)

The one word that comes to mind when I think of this movie is- beautiful.
The movie begins in a dimly lit room, where an elderly woman begins to recount the story of the life of a man with scissors for hands by the bedside of her young granddaughter. His creator died before he was able to finish him, leaving the man alone in his large estate.
From there on out, the entire movie plays out like a kind of modernized fairytale- and the environment has everything to do with it. The town in which the story is set is utterly suburban and utterly isolated, as if were the only neighborhood on the planet. Every house is a different color and shape, but there is a kind of treeless sameness between them that pulls them all together, making them seem unoriginal and conformative. The same could be said of the cars, and how they all file out each morning in a bizarrely choreographed fashion to take the men that we hardly see to work.
Yes, the film is mostly about the women of the town, all different, but who all share the common ailment of gossip. Peg (played by Diane Wiest), one of the film's main stars is a bit of an outsider. She is tidy, hard-working and sweet.
After a particularly unsuccessful day of work as the local Avon saleswoman, she decides to try her luck at the oft-unvisited mansion at the end of the street. It is an almost exaggerated contrast to the sunny and ordered neighborhood right beside it. It is dark and towering, and the clouds hang over it so intensely that it almost looks to be in a different world. And that is probably what it represents.
It is here, that she finds the shy and awkward Edward Scissorhands. Being the sympathetic person that she is, she invites him into her home. Thus begins his adventure into maturity, acceptance, rejection and love.
We have to pause for a moment to make a note of the brilliance of Tim Burton. He created a character that looked like he's walked straight out of a horror movie, and is yet perhaps one of the most gentle and endearing characters you will ever come across. Edward's appearance is no mistake at all. Tim manages, to, without saying it overtly, challenge us not to judge on outward appearances and behaviors.
Edward basically desires two things. For one, he wants to have regular hands, so that he can be "complete" and normal like everyone else. The various ways in which he is treated display colorfully a myriad of stereotypes and opinions. More than one person tries to refer him to "someone who can help him" and others see his unusual hands as something that makes him special.
The second thing he desires is to be acknowledged by the girl that he is in love with- Peg's teenage daughter, Kim. It is through this that he gains more and more human emotions, such as heartache, jealousy, and anger.
Johnny Depp shines once more in this role. Yes, that's right- this is the same Johnny who bravely battles the undead in Pirates of the Caribbean as Pirate Jack Sparrow. His performance as Ed is flawless and displays his absolute attentiveness to detail. From the quirky and quick way that he walks to his everyday pursed lips, to the heart-wrenchingly pained look in his face when he is misjudged, it's all made to try and clue us in to how Edward is feeling inside.
Winona Rider did a great job as well in playing the part of Kim. At first she seems frightened of Edward, then annoyed at him, and later, sympathetic.
The supporting actors and actresses all do well in their respective roles, especially Kathy Baker as the neighborhood "maninizer". Whether you loved her or hated her character (I simply thought she was plain whack) I think you will probably have to acknowledge that she played the role to perfection.
It's sad that so many films seem to include a stereotypical Christian who sees evil in everything, but, alas, I even begrudgingly admit that Olan Jones was a good Esmeralda.
Even with a great setting, and a great cast, the movie would be incomplete without an excellent soundtrack- which is exactly what it possesses. The music has an eerie, wispy tone to it, and it fits beautifully with the surreal feel of the movie.
So what can we say in the end about Edward Scissorhands? I think it is a movie for the kind of people who like films that have an unconventional way of getting their point across. (Think, "The Butterfly Effect"). Outwardly, it's just a story with a guy who has hands for scissors in a really bizarre-seeming setting. If you stop there, you might not enjoy it at all. Yet if you look deeper, you see that it is really a poetic love story. It's also not about Edward's scissor hands- it is about people who are different, and who feel incomplete. It is about people who feel that they are misunderstood because they don't quite know how to speak up, and the judgments that we often incorrectly make about them. Yet it portrays all of this in a concealed, and sometimes actually funny way.
Unfortunately, as poet K. Bradford Brown said, "The problem: We see us by our thoughts, intentions, and ideas; They see us by our actions." So true.
Equally true: This is a really good movie.