A chaotic childhood memoir hits the screen with mixed results and polarized critical reception
In short: Ryan Murphy’s 2006 adaptation of Augusten Burroughs’ memoir depicts a teenager’s surreal life under the guardianship of an eccentric psychiatrist. While the film features a star-studded cast, it struggled to capture the emotional depth of its source material, leaving critics and audiences divided on its sincerity and execution.
The film chronicles the life of Augusten, a teenager whose mother, Deirdre, struggles with severe mood swings and erratic behavior. After his alcoholic father, Norman, exits the picture, Augusten is placed in the care of Dr. Finch, a psychiatrist who runs a household defined by dysfunction. The Finch family includes a submissive wife, Agnes, and two daughters, Hope and Natalie, who navigate the bizarre environment alongside Augusten. The narrative follows Augusten’s difficult adjustment to this new life, marked by his sexual awakening and a complex, manipulative dynamic where Dr. Finch exploits Deirdre for her child support payments.
As Augusten matures, he faces the emotional fallout of his mother’s detachment and the instability of the Finch household, which includes interactions with patients like the schizophrenic Neil Bookman. Eventually, Augusten escapes to New York to pursue a writing career, aided by Agnes, who provides him with her savings. A mid-credits sequence provides closure for the characters, noting that Dr. Finch eventually lost his medical license due to insurance fraud and passed away in 2000, while Augusten’s father, Norman, reconnected with his son before his own death in 2005.
Despite the high-profile ensemble cast—including Annette Bening, Brian Cox, and Alec Baldwin—the film failed to resonate broadly. Critics often noted that the adaptation lacked the genuine emotional weight found in the original memoir. Aggregators reflect this lukewarm reception: the film holds a 32% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 135 reviews, while Metacritic reports a score of 52 out of 100. CinemaScore audiences were similarly unimpressed, awarding the production an average grade of C+.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Running with Scissors (film)
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