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Wonderful character development!

The Age of Commercialism

Really Surprised!

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Based on a true story, Girl, Interrupted gives an account of Susanna Kaysen's 18 month stay at a mental hospital during the 1960's.I'll kick off with a disclaimer that I have not read Susanna Kaysen's book, but I can only presume, and hope, that the book doesn't have nearly as many shortcomings as the film.One major thing I did take exception to with this film is its lack of depth and development in terms of its characters. Angelina Jolie's character Lisa is a sociopath who is little more than a playground bully which truth be told is it a little one-note and becomes a bit tiresome after the novelty wears off. Jolie is quite good here and this film helped to showcase that she had some range, but I just wish that her character had been given more dimension and depth. In fairness, we do gain more of an understanding of her character at the end of the film, but this doesn't make up for the fact that Jolie had nothing to work with in the early stages of the film. The only other supporting character to get any sort of focus was Daisy (Brittany Murphy), but again her character isn't that well-written and her character, like Lisa, didn't really have enough depth to make me care.Even when looking at the main character Susanna the writers probably don't develop her as well as they should have done; it seemed with Susanna, like Lisa, that all of the interesting things about her character are lazily thrown in at the end and prior to this we witness numerous therapy sessions, flashbacks, and Susanna ingratiating herself with the sisterhood at Claymoore and sadly I didn't find any of these things particularly insightful.Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder put in good performances and some of the insights given at the end do give the film some weight, but I couldn't help but feel that the director's own indulgences got in the way far too often. Girl, Interrupted provides us with a lot of potentially interesting characters that sadly are never allowed to become interesting and a potentially interesting story that doesn't always focus its attention in the right areas. Inevitably, this film will probably be compared to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, but by comparison, Girl, Interrupted falls short.

I was amazed with this movie when it was released. Two decades later I run into it and decided to watch it again. I must admit I have no idea why was I so thrilled back when I was 20. It is undeniably good, but it does not break into "required reading". Cast is excellent. Angelina Jolie inviolably dominate the movie and, although she is in supporting role, I think this was the role of her life. She deservedly took Academy Award and dozen more first places on various film festivals. Winona is Winona, I was never able to form a coherent opinion about her. There are also Jared Leto, Whoopi Goldberg, Brittany Murphy, Elisabeth Moss, Vanessa Redgrave... surely this movie is worth watching, if if for no other reason than for really good acting.

Girl Interrupted (1999): Dir: James Mangold / Cast: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Whoopi Goldberg, Brittany Murphy, Clea DuVall: Misguided film about intrusion of the mind and those disturbances that hinder our daily functions. Winona Ryder is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and spends two years in an institution. She should have been diagnosed with worse than that for agreeing to be part of this exercise in shame. She has flashbacks to a past relationship and an affair with a married man. None of this is dealt with properly. This is actually about her friendship of sorts with an insane sociopath named Lisa. It displays an institution where patients seem to come and go as they please, which leads to a night of bowling. Director James Mangold gives insight but his Copland is a much better example of his work. The only performance that rings true in this formula crap fest is Angelina Jolie. She steals the film as Lisa, but Ryder never seems to be there. We never really buy into Ryder's release in its hokey happy finale. Whoopi Goldberg as a caregiver is a prop that seems like the umpteenth detail stolen from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Brittany Murphy and Clea DuVall are amongst those who play fellow patients. The theme is handled too lightly to take seriously in its disruption of the mind and the road to sanity. Score: 3 ½ / 10

Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder) ODs on aspirins and family friend Dr. Crumble convinces her to go to Claymoore Hospital. She's struggling to find herself as a writer and had a fling with her parents' married colleague. She's the only one in her '67 class not to go to college. She insists that she's didn't attempt suicide. Her roommate Georgina Tuskin (Clea DuVall) is a compulsive liar. Sweet Torch Clark (Elisabeth Moss) has burns on her face. Daisy Randone (Brittany Murphy) has food and daddy issues. The police returns escapee Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie) who is a whirlwind rebellious personality. Soon, Susanna realizes that this is not simply for a short rest. Her boyfriend Tobias Jacobs (Jared Leto) gets drafted. Valerie (Whoopi Goldberg) is the wise nurse in charge. Dr. Melvin Potts (Jeffrey Tambor) declares Susanna has borderline personality disorder. Dr. Wick (Vanessa Redgrave) takes over her case with some big insights.Nurse Valerie calls Susanna "a lazy, self-indulgent little girl who is driving herself crazy." I disagree on the lazy part because she's trying very hard. However, much of the movie feels indulgent to me. Valerie tells Susanna that she's not really sick. The big surprise of the movie is that the mental hospital and its staff are not evil. They are mostly reasonable. Potts comes off a little clueless but Susanna is really just rebelling against her uptight parents and fighting against herself. That's not to say that this is an useless exercise. There are some good performances from the actresses. There is one great section with Ryder watching Jolie throw verbal bombs at Murphy. To me, that's the most impressive section of the movie. The final confrontation is a bit melodramatic. The movie should have wrapped up soon after the Jolie Murphy confrontations.