An Impressive, Excellent Movie by Tim Burton

Rating: 10/10 (30 October 2007)

Edward Scissorhands is an excellent movie, brilliantly conceived by Tim Burton and Caroline Thompson. Everything from the wonderful cast, to the amazing score by Danny Elfman, to the interesting script, make for a phenomenal movie-viewing experience.
The movie is about Edward (Johnny Depp), a man created by an inventor. However, before the inventor is finished with his creation, he dies, leaving Edward with razor sharp, scissor hands. Left alone, he has no contact with the outside world or other people until the local Avon lady, Peg (Dianne Wiest) decides to drive up to the old, almost deserted, mansion for one last chance to sell her products. Instead she finds Edward. She decides to take Edward away from the mansion and she brings him home to live with her family. Edward now has to learn how to survive in the real world and discover how to live with real people and their prejudices.
Johnny Depp does an amazing job as Edward. What makes him so good in this role is his ability to convey so much with so few words. He is clearly showing what it is like to be an outsider and someone who does not quite fit in with the rest of the population. While his 'scissorhands' are good for making beautiful ice sculptures and trimming the neighbors bushes and trees into all sorts of creative shapes, he is not able to perform simple activities like eating a pea. He is also unable to come into direct contact with other humans. He cannot rub his eyes or wipe a hair off his face without cutting himself. Johnny Depp is excellent in portraying this man's difficult and complex life. Edward is completely innocent, yet taken advantage of by everyone simply because he is different. Also notable in the cast are Dianne Wiest, Peg, the Avon lady who brings Edward out of the mansion and Winona Ryder, who plays Peg's daughter Kim.
What Tim Burton is able to do extremely well is to create movies that speak to the viewer on some level. Although none of us will ever quite know what it would be like to have scissors for hands, many of us will feel like an outsider at some point in our lives. On some level, we will be able to identify with and sympathize with Edward. Although the situations in many of Burton's movies are fantasy based, it somehow feels real. There is a familiar feeling in his movies, in Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and even The Corpse Bride that make the viewer feel as if they are experiencing the events right alongside the characters.