One of the greatest films ever made

Rating: Null/10 (17 February 2006)

Tim Burton's EDWARD SCISSORHANDS is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. It is simply such a treat to watch a film about a man with such childlike ability and innocence. And yet he has talent and a good heart. He creates art and is happy to know that what he thought was just a hobby to do when he's bored can be so attention grabbing. This fantasy film is a simple one told mostly in images. An Avon lady(Diane Weist) is having a typical rotten day when she sees a creepy looking castle way off in the distance. She takes her chances and drives all the way up to the castle. She finds a pale looking man(Johnny Depp) in the attic and sees that he is missing his hands and in place of where his hands should be, there are different shards and colors of scissors. This sight scares her at first, but eventually she feels deeply sorry for him and takes him home with her. The neighbors see him in her car and so begins the gossip. "A man with scissors for hands?!" "What a weird looking man!" "Who in the world is that?" "What is he doing here?" The man is talked about by everyone. He befriends the Avon lady's laid back husband(Alan Arkin) and her young son(Robert Oliveri).Later in the film, The Avon Lady's beautiful daughter, Kim(Wynona Rider), shows up and meets Edward too. And eventually he becomes popular with the neighbors when he shows that his scissor hands can create absolute beauty. Unfortunitly, he is taken advantage of, and that is when darkness begins to shroud the town's usual colorful spirit. Edward has disadvantages with his scissor hands and yet nobody except for Kim sees him as a man who is complicated and scared of this new world he has entered. Edward is somewhat clumsy, he is very unsettling looking with his cuts and scars all over his face, and he is quiet. Everyone ignores these characteristics except for Kim. The neighbors, when he shows something different in his usual activities, freak out! The people run from him, he is molested in the back of a hair salon by a strange woman, he is attacked by Kim's boyfriend, and he ends up being expelled from this so called normal world. The musical score by Danny Elfman is absolutely spell bounding. Quite possibly the prettiest soundtrack in motion picture history. It completely fits with the classic feel of the neighborhood and the mystery of Edward. This is my favorite Tim Burton film and I believe that everyone should see it for its beauty, its love, its look, and Edward. The film is hypnotizing. Vincent Price, the nice inventor, gives his best( and last) performance to date, and the flashbacks involving him are an absolute joy to watch. They are touching, beautiful, revealing, horrifying, and spell bounding. He may have been even more childlike than Edward in fact. In one flashback, he is shown reading to Edward and he suddenly exclaims "This is boring!" so he switches to some funny poetry and teaches Edward to smile. This film must be seen.