By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Johnny Depp has starred in countless iconic roles in beloved movies ranging from Nightmare On Elm Street to Pirates of the Caribbean. In fact, he’s the rare actor who’s had so many great roles that it’s easy for audiences to overlook some of his best performances. For example, Edward Scissorhands doesn’t get nearly enough love, but you can change that by streaming this quirky Tim Burton classic for free on Tubi.
The plot of Edward Scissorhands is that the title character is a gentle artificial human whose creator died before he could give his creation real hands. That leaves Edward with (no points for guessing) scissors for hands, which becomes problematic when a nice saleswoman brings him home to live in the suburbs. There, Edward discovers the modern world and falls in love, but angry townies might spell the end for this Frankenstein before he can take a bride.
Edward Scissorhands is an early Tim Burton film, and the director fills every frame with his trademark gothic whimsy. The movie’s whimsy and pathos are driven home by beloved composer Danny Elfman, whose score will make you want to alternate between laughing and crying. That’s the perfect vibe for a movie about a soft-spoken robot here to teach us all what it means to be human.
In Edward Scissorhands, Johnny Depp stars as the lead character and plays against type in the best possible way. Modern audiences may best associate Depp in flamboyant roles in everything from Pirates of the Caribbean to Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, and there’s no doubt the actor does great in bombastic roles where he gets to chew the scenery like he’s starving. But in Edward Scissorhands, Depp’s performance is wonderfully subdued, and he is able to convey so much nuance in this film with nothing more than vulnerable looks and impossibly soft line deliveries.
The rest of the Edward Scissorhands cast is great, including horror icon Vincent Price as Edward’s creator and ‘80s staple Anthony Michael Hall as a local boy jealous of the new goth robot that moved into the neighborhood. Triple threat Dianne Wiest (she’s won one Golden Globe, two Emmys, and two Oscars) plays the kindly Avon saleswoman who brings Edward home, forever changing the lives of everyone in her family. That includes the character played by another ‘80s legend: Winona Ryder, who is doe-eyed perfection as Edward’s girlfriend.
When Edward Scissorhands came out, it cut up the cinematic competition, earning $86 million against a budget of only $20 million. It was also a critical hit and currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 90 percent. Critics praised Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s collaboration and the touching modern fairy tale they created together. Regular moviegoers agreed, and the movie has an audience score of 91 percent, indicating what a crowd-pleasing classic this often overlooked film really is.
Will you agree that Edward Scissorhands is a modern fairy tale full of macabre whimsy, or is this one movie you’d rather dice up into your new front lawn topiary? You won’t know until you stream it for free on Tubi and discover its wonders. Once you do so, you’ll likely agree that it is an instant classic, and you’ll share my specific job that this nearly perfect film never had a cinematic sequel.
And before anyone yells at me, those weird comics and even weirder Super Bowl commercial don’t count!
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS REVIEW SCORE
