Imaginative and heartbreaking

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 2005)

Johnny Depp is unrecognizable in this touching portrait of a lonely creation made by a recluse inventor played by the late Vincent Price. Before he can add the final touches, a pair of hands, he drops dead of a heart attack leaving Edward with lethal looking shears at the end of his arms. Due to the intervention of a determined and cheerful Avon lady (Diane Weist) Edward finds himself becoming the neighborhood celebrity when his creativity with his appendages is discovered. However he is only appreciated for his unique appearance while he longs to become an ordinary everyday person. "But then there wouldn't be anything special about you. You'd just be like everyone else" he is told. Even his love for the Avon lady's daughter (Winona Ryder) is doomed thanks to her bullying boyfriend (Anthony Michael Hall). Director Tim Burton has created an imaginative tale that's unforgettably poignant.