The most recent work by James Mangold, the director who last brought us the macho-driven, star studded affair, "Cop Land," is targeted toward a much different audience than his last work, a female audience. But I am here to tell you that it is also a film for guys, at least those who appreciate intelligent and important film making. Mangold adopted Susanna Kaysen's autobiographical book about her experiences in a mental hospital into a very telling and touching film that takes you inside the lives of the patients there.
As the film opens, we are quickly shown many different events that lead Susanna (Winona Ryder - "Age of Innocence," "Reality Bites," "The Crucible") to her stay at Claymoore, a mental hospital for girls. She is the only girl at her school who did not know right where she wanted to go when she graduated from high school. This is a sign of her "Borderline Personality Disorder," the diagnosis for which she is sent to the hospital. Susanna's problem is much less severe than that of any of the other girls she meets at the hospital. These new, mostly insane friends of hers range from Pathological Liars to Distressed Burn Victims to Addicts to an all-out crazy, rebellious girl named Lisa (Angelina Jolie - "Gia," "Bone Collector," "George Wallace").
All of the girls at the hospital bond together, but Lisa is the one to whom Susanna is most attracted. The two of them form as best of a bond as Lisa's personality will allow. The story thereafter is basically Susanna's struggles with understanding her problem and a character study of all the patients and their unique, but still somewhat universal, problems.
Although I've never been a fan of Winona Ryder, I will say that she is at least convincing in her lead role. She is at least strong enough to hold our interest during the scenes without the real star of the film, Angelina Jolie. When Jolie appears on screen, as with most all her other films, she completely steals the show. The character she becomes in this film, Lisa, is hilarious, provocative, and totally captivating. With her brutally persuasive manner, Lisa is able to convince Susanna and the audience that some of her wacky, mean-spirited antics are actually acceptable. The film does not try to make a statement that society should conform to Lisa's idealized view of it as Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty" or as Edward Norton in "Fight Club" did to an extent. Instead, Lisa understands and acknowledges that she is insane, informing us that we should not take her actions seriously or as those of a role model in any way. Jolie won a very deserving Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her amazing performance in "Girl, Interrupted."
Unfortunately, the last thirty minutes or so of this film drag on and take away a lot of the appeal that had been building up. At this point, it gives in to the generally acceptable style and delivers a typical Hollywood ending. For this reason, "Girl, Interrupted" does not get my highest recommendation, though it is certainly worth the rental at the video store.
Rated R for language and sexuality
DVD extras: 5 Deleted Scenes, an HBO First-look feature on the film, and Director's Commentary on the film and the deleted scenes. I wasn't taken enough by the film to sit through any of the director's commentary, but I did check out the HBO feature and the deleted scenes. The HBO feature just played like an extra long trailer for the film and the deleted scenes were, well, deleted for very good reason, they're long, uninteresting, and not at all important to the film's impact. You are not missing much if you don't see any of these DVD extras.
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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