WHERE: Area theaters.

WHEN: Opens today.

RATING: R for strong language and elements of sexuality, violence and substance abuse.

RUNNING TIME: 121 minutes.

BOTTOM LINE: Annette Bening shines in a comedy-drama that takes family dysfunction to the extreme.

Even before James Frey spoiled the party by violating the etiquette of memoir-writing -- like that nitpicking detail that a memoir should be based on things that actually happened -- the knives have been out for Augusten Burroughs over his off-the-wall account of his fractured family in Running With Scissors.

His mother disputes her son's depiction of her as a zoned-out poet who gave up custody of Augusten to her nutty psychiatrist. And the family of said psychiatrist has sued, claiming defamation.

Having seen the movie adapted from that book, "Running With Scissors," I'm inclined to believe Burroughs' account -- because some stuff is too crazy to make up.

In the movie, we see young Augusten dealing with his parents, the poetry-driven Dierdre (Annette Bening) and the emotionally distant Norman (Alec Baldwin). But that's just a warm-up when Dierdre moves Augusten (played as a teen by Joseph Cross) into the house of her shrink, Dr. Finch (Brian Cox).

Finch takes in young patients the way some old ladies take in stray cats. Among those in residence are Hope (Gwyneth Paltrow), a Bible-spouting nutter and Finch's favorite daughter; Natalie (Evan Rachel Wood), an electroshock-dabbling teen in hot pants; Bookman (Joseph Fiennes), a schizophrenic with whom Augusten discovers his homosexuality; and Finch's long-suffering wife, Agnes (Jill Clayburgh), who, in spite of her occasional snack of kibble, is the most normal one in the house.

Director-screenwriter Ryan Murphy (best known as the creator of the FX series "Nip/Tuck") plays up the idiosyncrasies of these strange characters -- believing, apparently, that one needs at least five personality quirks just to be noticed in these ranks. It's not subtle, but it is surprisingly effective, especially as Augusten learns he has no one to rely on but himself as he struggles out of this '70s snake pit.

Such characters are raw meat for actors, and the cast takes big bites. Among the standouts are Baldwin, a pudgy paragon of gin-soaked despair, and Cox, who shifts from avuncular calm to messianic alarm with startling ease.

But Bening is the star of the show, because her performance and her character's megalomania demand it. Bening's Dierdre is a bundle of contradictions, fiercely feminist yet disturbingly dependent, haughty yet insecure. From start to finish in "Running With Scissors,-- Bening proves she's a cut above most other actresses.

---- SEAN P. MEANS can be reached at movies@sltrib.com or 801-257-8602. Send comments about this review to livingeditor@sltrib.com.