Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Directed by Tim Burton

This was the movie where it all begun; Edward Scissorhands was the first collaboration between Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton. Before the movie came out, Johnny Depp was considered to be just another TV teen-heartthrob. After the movie, Johnny Depp was a real movie star. As Johnny Depp wrote in his foreword to the book Burton on Burton, Tim Burton (largely through giving him the role as Edward Scissorhands) rescued Johnny from being “"a loser, an outcast, just another piece of expendable Hollywood meat.”

Edward Scissorhands is the charming story of a young man, a young man who was not conceived in natural circumstances, but was created by an elderly inventor (played by Vincent Price) who spent his years in his mansion filled with his creations over looking the ‘pastel paradise’ that is suburbia. He names his young creation Edward.

The inventor unexpectedly dies before completing Edward, leaving him with metal scissors for hands; Edward is incomplete and alone until he meets Peg (played by Dianne Wiest), a down on her luck, optimistic and kind hearted Avon Lady who senses the vulnerability and fear in Edward above her own fear and shock of his disfiguration and so invites him to live with her family in the suburbia that the inventors mansion over looked.

Edwards journey through this new world are both humorous and tragic, we sympathize and relate as he struggles to fit in and do what society says is the right thing, we sit in awe as we watch the shy and confused Edward release his passion and artistry on the suburbs hedges and the women’s hair and we cant help but smile at his innocence and charm, most of all, we can’t help but fall in love with this beautiful tragedy as he falls in love with Pegs daughter, Kim (played by Winona Ryder).
The ending is one that can stir up many emotions, none of them being disappointment, but rather, sadness and heart ache and yet there is still a sense of joy and content.

The movie is directed by Tim Burton who alongside Caroline Thompson wrote the story, Burton and Depp work amazingly together, and the music score by Danny Elfman is nothing short of brilliant. The all star cast and superb set and costume designers make this film something which can only be described as a masterpiece.
(Plotsynopsis written by MissSkellington)

Check out these Character Profiles written by Redfox:

Kim Boggs
Peg Boggs

To find more information about this movie, visit Tim Burton Collective's Edward Scissorhands page.