Rating of
2.5/4
"Edward Scissorhands" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/26/12
An Avon lady finds the unfinished work of an elderly inventor living alone in a deserted mansion and decides to take him in and teach him to "fit in". Edward Scissorhands was the film that saw Tim Burton perfect his trademark style, producing a sweet natured suburban fairytale that's a kind of gothic cross between Pinoccio and Frankenstein. Johnny Depp plays the innocent outsider in this representation of middle America that's all housecoats, barbecues and topiary decorated in a mish mash of kitsch retro styles and shot like a 50s knitting pattern catalogue. There is the usual assortment of familiar grotesques as Burton goes out of his way to show the absurdity of accepted "normality" and there are shades of The Idiot as poor naive Depp is used and then vilified by his hypocritical new friends. The highlights for me are definitely the flashbacks to his earlier life featuring Vincent Price but it is showing its age a little being very much a product of its time. It feels a little insubstantial as a result but its engaging cast, attractive visuals and gentle humour make for a charming little story.
