Based on the personal memoirs of Augusten Burroughs, RUNNING WITH SCISSORS is a wickedly funny, brave and moving tale of surviving a most unusual childhood. Augusten's mother (Annette Bening) is a deluded aspiring poet with bipolar disorder whose marriage to his dad (Alec Baldwin) is in ruins. Soon, she is seeing a very eccentric therapist named Dr. Finch (Brian Cox), while Augusten (Joseph Cross) is left in the care of Finch's wacky family, including his tightly-wound daughter (Gwyneth Paltrow). Abandoned by his parents and adopted by the Finches, he finds a kindred spirit in youngest daughter Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood) and motherly support from Finch's long-suffering wife Agnes (Jill Clayburgh). Constantly recording the events of his life in his journal as a way to cope, Augusten finds himself avoiding school, learning about love from an older man (Joseph Fiennes), and making big decisions at the tender age of fifteen.