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Laramie Movie Scope:
Edward Scissorhands

A touching retelling of Frankenstein

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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January 23, 1991 -- ``Edward Scissorhands'' is an unique, inventive and whimsical film, but not for all tastes. Tim Burton, who brought to the screen such dark visions as ``Batman'' and ``Beetlejuice,'' has a sort of dark fairy tale here, a combination of Frankenstein and Beauty and the Beast in suburbia.

Burton, who says Frankenstein is his favorite story, has given the tale a new twist with a love story and the terrible banality of suburban conformity. The tale begins as a fairy tale, a grandmother telling her granddaughter how snow is made.

The creature, an artificial life form with scissors for hands, is wonderfully played by Johnny Depp, created by, who else, a mad scientist played by Vincent Price. Scissorhands is not a robot without a heart, however, he is creative, sensitive, shy and joyful, more of the best part of humanity, it turns out, than many of his suburban neighbors. He is taken from his fantasy castle hideaway by a housewife, well-played by Dianne Wiest. He falls in love with her daughter, played by Winona Ryder, and a tragic conflict begins with Ryder's boyfriend that ends in the death of the boyfriend.

The suburban neighbors who had so quickly taken Scissorhands into their lives and obtained the use of his creative talents, turn on him just as quickly. There are doubtless parallels in the life of Scissorhands and his creator, Burton, who co-wrote the script. Burton himself is a strange man who feels out of sync with the Hollywood scene and he knows that Hollywood will turn on him if these strange visions of his stop making such fantastically large sums of money for the movie moguls. I hope they keep making money.

This movie is a very fine effort on the part of Burton and is obviously a labor of love by him, Depp and Ryder, who is Depp's girlfriend in real life. But it does lack complexity and it is pretty slow-moving in spots.

Despite its flaws, it is a movie well worth seeing for its fine acting performances, good special effects, moving storyline and it is especially rewarding for those who would like to see something different in a film. Want to know how snow is made? See the film.

On a scale of one to 10 this film rates a seven.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)