Susanna Kaysen made the New York Times bestseller's list in 1993, writing about her experiences in a mental hospital during the late 1960s. Winona Ryder read the book, and it struck a nerve for her. Winona had checked herself into a similar institution when she was twenty. Now wealthy and a famous actress, she was able to serve not only as executive producer for the movie adaptation, but star in it as well.
The year is 1968. Susanna (Ryder) has attempted suicide, and is pressured into admitting herself into Claymoore. It is a private mental hospital, apparently specializing in treating the troubled adult children of upper middle class families. There, we meet most every conceivable stereotype of the mentally ill young woman. Lisa (Angelina Jolie) is wild, flirtatious, scene stealing and angry. Daisy (Brittany Murphy) is the attractive incest victim. There's a lesbian character, who is therefore the most physically unattractive, and closest to true lunacy. Polly (Elizabeth Moss) is a terrified wallflower. Georgina (Clea DuVall) is said to be a compulsive liar, but she seems normal if shy to me. The writers seem to have neglected to bless her with eccentricities. With Ryder cast as 'promiscuous', all that's missing is the kleptomaniac, the dunce, and the girl who think's she's a princess. This is fortunate, for adding those characters probably would have made the movie a hit, and adapted into a weekly television sitcom.
Perhaps I am too cynical here. I haven't read the book, and it could well be that all these characters are presented as written. The book may also be an accurate description of Kaysen's experience. Certainly Ryder has undertaken the project with the best of intentions. She can't really be blamed if director James Mangold takes endless closeups of her and Jolie, or if her character's 'ambivalence' also applies to the film's attitude towards the hospital.
Is Claymoore a rich girl's prison, with nurses posing as guards? Is it simply a business, warehousing sane women so as to feed on the trough of their parent's bank accounts? Is it representative of society's enforcement of behavior, drugging the patients into submission and conformity? Is it an altruistic, well-intentioned clinic, with a goal of curing its patients?
After much indecision, Girl, Interrupted finally decides on the latter. The hospital's redemption arrives in the form of venerable Vanessa Redgrave, who plays the wise senior psychiatrist. Ryder isn't clever enough to fool Redgrave, who sees right through her. With her cover blown, Ryder has no choice but to confess all her sins and be cured. The lesson here is to ensure that your shrink is smarter than you are.
Whoopi Goldberg, whose big break came in playing an insecure, reclusive woman in The Color Purple, has portrayed opposite roles ever since. She again has a take charge, no-nonsense, positive 'den mother' character, as in Boys on the Side and Corrina, Corrina. Ryder is again the vulnerable girl lost, as in Dracula and How to Make an American Quilt. Jolie is again the sexy troublemaker, as in Gia and Foxfire. With everyone playing their stereotype, the film passes time easily enough. But you will wish you were seeing these actresses in their earlier, more memorable films instead. (46/100)
DVDS. In 1967, 19-year-old Susanna ({$Winona Ryder}) feels that "reality is becoming too dense" and is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder....More at DeepDiscount.com
Two time Oscar-nominee Winona Ryder stars in the fascinating true story of a young woman s life-altering stay at a famous psychiatric hospital in the ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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