Best Movie Ever -- see the movie before reading this

Rating: 10/10 (22 October 2003)

This is the movie where it all comes together--the most creative story, the most moving music, the immaculate direction, and the impeccable cast. "Edward Scissorhands" is art, perfected. There has never been a story told so eloquently as done here by Tim Burton; this movie is the best thing in the world, not to overstate it.
First of all, the whole movie is absolutely beautiful. It's hard to pick one, but the shot of Peg looking in her car mirror is a wonderful example of the aesthetics Burton uses throughout the film, mixing bright color with a darkness that is crisp, and not gloomy.
Danny Elfman's score for "Edward Scissorhands" is the best I've ever heard. It is touching, funny, and always appropriate. Tim Burton makes the right move playing Elfman's music almost non-stop during the movie, and there isn't a false note throughout.
Little needs to be said for the cast: phenomenal performances by Depp, Ryder, Wiest, Arkin, and Price pull this movie together.
As for Kim...she knew that she and Edward could not be together as long as he was outcast. She couldn't just sneak up there every day after school or something. And as she said, she'd rather he remembered her the way she was. But the silver lining of the movie is, no matter how long Edward stays up there alone, he is happier than he would have been without his days with Kim.
As for the blocks of ice...Edward lives in a house owned by an inventor who created a human being, plus all those cookies and God knows what else. A big freezer somewhere is not far-fetched.
This movie really is about being different, and the functionalism of society. It goes over the top on purpose--with the house colors and plain lawns, and the shot with all the husbands backing out of their driveways to go to work all at once--to stress that this is just basic American suburbia. Edward changes the lawns, and in the end, when society's disturbed, the party responsible is rejected.
Of course, there's always the more fun way of looking at it--that it's just a bunch of stuff that happened. Do that.