THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
People are special and people are different. People are special for being different. And from there, it can be easier to see that love will come from unfamiliar places.
PLOT
Edward Scissorhands follows the titular ageless humanoid that was created by a elderly inventor (Vincent Price) who passed away before he could give him a normal set of hands. With the mansion being abandoned, Edward would spend a long while alone until being found by local saleswoman Peg Boggs. Originally terrified of him, she brings him to her home when realizing he is virtually harmless. In her suburban neighborhood, she lives with her husband Bill, their young son Kevin (Robert Oliveri) and teenage daughter Kim. Kim would be originally be terrified of him as well when coming home late and finding him sleeping in her waterbed. After an awkward meet cute, she would warm up to him like the rest of her family would. Although the majority of the neighborhood appears to have interest in him, the only ones that don't accept him are the overly religious Esmeralda (O-Alan Jones) and Kim's obnoxious boyfriend Jim. Edward shows his gratitude to the neighborhood welcoming him by trimming their hedges into topiaries, grooming their dogs and providing haircuts for the woman. One neighbor named Joyce becomes infatuated with him that she tries to seduce him, but he would be so scared of the interaction. Disappointed that she couldn't have him, she chose to lie to the neighborhood that it was he who tried to seduce her. Jealous of Kim's unspoken attraction towards him, Jim gets him in trouble by having him involved in an attempted robbery. Even though Edward was aware of what he was doing, he only does it because Kim asked him to, confirming his attraction to her as well. After taking the full blame, no charges would be pressed as his past life of isolation has left him with no common sense. The incident would be the final straw for the neighborhood to turn on him. By Christmas time, Edward would carve an ice sculpture, modeled after Kim. When she sees his creation, she becomes so in awe with it that she dances with ice shavings above her fall like snow. When Jim makes an appearance, he startles Edward to where he accidentally cuts Kim's hand. He would only leave with pent up rage when the boyfriend would accuse him of hurting her intentionally. Tired of the jealousy, Kim would dump him on the spot. By the time Edward calms down, he would save Kevin from being hit by a car, but would only inadvertently cut him too. When witnesses mistake it as an attack, it would get only worse when defending himself against a hostile Jim. He returns to the mansion, but when Kim follows him to check on him, Jim would follow too but with a gun, with the intent to kill him. Ultimately, Edward's defense would lead to stabbing him in the chest and pushing from a window of the mansion. As an act of love, Kim would lie to the neighborhood that they killed each other. Some time later, an elderly Kim telling her granddaughter of this story, admitting that she hasn't seen him in a long time, wanting him to remember her as she was when they last saw each other. The film ends with her sharing that she still dances in the snow, while also showing Edward carving more ice sculptures in the mansion.
THOUGHTS
As part of many films I've gotten to see in my childhood, it is crazy for me to say aloud that this one still holds up since first released in 1990. Tim Burton provides what has grown to be his finest work to date by making the bizarre feel normal in comparison to anything we would identify as such. With a majestic score by Danny Elfman, phenomenal costumes designed by Colleen Atwood and insane production design by Bo Welch, what gets illustrated is an unbelievably fascinating experience. Every time I look back on this, I'm always clicking with it is because of its clever way to teach people to live in the moment. And when you live in the moment, you have to take the opportunity to take it all in to appreciate everything you got. In the eyes of our titular lead, played beautifully by Johnny Depp, we see him as one who does want to fit in, but doesn't waste the artistic image he has deep down that he chooses to express. Despite the discrimination that came his way, his heart remained pure and did his best in not harming people. Although he loved and accepted himself, he felt whole when getting it from others and the gap was wide open when his father died. Little would he expect to find it in someone completely different from him. At first, he easily fell for him off of Kim for her beauty, but in person, his attraction goes to how confident and outgoing she is, whereas he is mostly shy. On the other hand, Winona Ryder also shows her as one who is trying to come out of her shell as a teenager and becomes comfortable around Edward. Surprisingly, she truly loves him for all the innocence he had within and the kindness that was lacking from the men around her. Anthony Michael Hall straight up broke his typecast and surprised us as the most arrogant asshole in the film's neighborhood. Jim only cared about himself the whole time and never thought about anyone else. I don't know how he managed to be with Kim for so long and act the way he would. While he didn't really need to die, it's a relief that no one would disrespect Kim like he did. The scene that gave me the biggest smile is Kim dancing to the ice because that is what living in the moment is all about. I then get filled with heartbreak during the climax as her affection towards him would be the last time he'd receive it. The two characters that don't get enough attention when looking back, it'd have to be Kim's parents. While Alan Arkin played Bill as a guy that takes things one at a time doesn't think about the worst, Dianne Wiest showed Peg as a woman who can't help spreading kindness however. She did admit she wasn't really thinking it through when bringing Edward to her home. But deep down, she just couldn't bare seeing him alone. I'm pretty sure she wishes things were different, but like Kim, she doesn't regret having him as a part of her life. It always bothers me knowing how alone Edward would spend another lifetime being alone, but I'd like to think that another person would find him and give him more love than ever because no good person deserves to be alone. This movie has a gentle spot in my heart, yet even a movie that’s as great as this has a fair share of issues. For example, you already feel bad for Peg not making a sale with realistic customers, so what makes her think the mansion had a better chance? If they really wanted a realistic moment for Edward to be discovered by her, they should’ve said she was a realtor that wanted to sell the mansion. And since the Inventor appeared to have died for a long period of time, why has it taken so long for someone like Peg to find Edward? It didn’t look like he was hiding good enough until the roof caved in. Also, why didn’t Peg park in the garage instead of the streets? If she didn’t want people to know about Edward yet, that would’ve been a smarter decision. It can be funny to see Edward not do normal things like eating due to his hands, but the least the family could do is feed him. It can’t be hard taking turns on being kind to him. He’s lucky to bite a carrot or a pea. Even the waterbed scenario is hilarious, but that could’ve been avoided if they had him in the basement from the beginning. If we’re going into continuity errors, did anyone think it was weird for Edward to be ask two different times of having a surgery and only hearing him respond the second time when he’s on television? If he was interested from the start, it wouldn’t hurt hearing the answer when first asked. In all honesty, what makes Jim think robbing his dad was gonna work? He intended to rob his electronics and sell it to get his own van. There is no way suspicion wouldn’t arise. And how have the cops not known about Edward before the robbery? He has been all over town like going to Kevin’s school for show and tell. So it’s not like they wouldn’t know that a man’s got scissors for hands if everyone was jiggy with it. Also, I don’t blame Bill for being oblivious of what goes on with the story at hand because to him it’s better than overthinking, but how did he hardly catch on to the commotion between Jim and Edward? He was on the roof decorating the house and saw Edward leave and didn’t even question Jim of what happened. I even wonder why it takes so long for Edward to be spotted by the neighborhood when he briefly sat out on the driveway. It’s the holiday season at this point and many are indoors, so it’s crazy that no one saw him from a window. And I know we need one more moment of misunderstanding to isolate Edward in the climax, but Kevin should’ve stayed near the house when he saw Jim and his friend drunk driving. And lastly, how did no one in the neighborhood get curious about Kim’s alibi? They had to have wondered how she removed the spare glove. Other than that, this is still an oddly fascinating movie in general. In short, Edward Scissorhands is arguably one of the most creative films ever made by teaching viewers to give a chance to understand what’s misunderstood. If you seek a fantasy that can open your mind, this movie will do the trick.
Comments