Dianne Wiest stars as Peg Boggs, an Avon saleswoman from suburbia. While going door to door and being rejected by her neighbours, she decides to try her luck at a nearby Gothic mansion. Here she finds Edward, played by Johnny Depp, an unusual man with scissors for hands. Feeling sorry for him, she takes him home to live with her and her suburban family. As the neighbourhood comes to accept him, they discover he has a talent for cutting the hair of their dogs and housewives, as well as the topiary in everyone’s gardens. With plans of opening his own salon, things start going wrong when Peg’s daughter, Kim (Winona Ryder) and her boyfriend Jim (Anthony Michael Hall), ask Edward to help them break into a house to recover some stolen items. In truth, Jim wanted him to break into his own house to steal from his own father. He gets caught by the police after he gets locked in the highly alarmed and secure house, and that’s when things go downhill.
It’s funny, but typing this, I just realised that Kim’s boyfriend’s name rhymes with hers. Kim and Jim. I don’t know whether to laugh or roll my eyes.
I love the look of this movie. Tim Burton does suburbia. All the houses and cars are pastel colours, with bright, happy surroundings and normal suburban people. Then Edward moves in and sticks out like a sore thumb. It looks amazing. As far as the music goes, I love Danny Elfman’s score, which is spot-on as usual. You can’t have a Tim Burton movie without a Danny Elfman score, it would be so wrong. Like a Disney movie without an Alan Menken or Sherman Brother’s score. I also love the appearance of horror legend Vincent Price in his last feature film. It goes back to the story of the scientist who creates life, but puts a heart warming spin on it. Rather than a mad scientist playing God, it’s a lonely old inventor who wants to create a friend for companionship. The flashbacks, where Vincent Price appears, go into the backstory of how Edward came into being and the inventor teaching him how to be alive. It’s like My Fair Lady. In one of the flashbacks, the inventor is teaching Edward etiquette and poetry. At this point he hasn’t got any legs yet but it’s still very similar. The look of the inventor’s cookie room is very Tim Burton. There is an elaborate machine that makes cookies in various shapes using various robots. It’s like if Pee-Wee’s breakfast machine was altered for Sweeney Todd.
I love the scene where Edward is having dinner with the Boggs family for the first time. Kim isn’t home yet so it’s just Peg, her husband Bill and their son Kevin. They all seem to accept Edward, judging by the conversation, but the scene still feels hilariously awkward. Especially when Edward is trying to eat peas with his scissors.
As you can tell I have a lot of love for this film, being my favourite by Burton. It’s a charming story about feeling isolated and different, while struggling to fit into “normal” surroundings. This is a definite must see movie.
Linsey Loves Horror 