Review - Girl, Interrupted

Rebel Without A Cause

Girl, Interrupted

Score: 9,5

This pictures is from 10 years ago but I still like it as much as I did when I first watched it. In the late 80's and early 90's Winona Ryder was becoming one of the most promising actresses in Hollywood, making successful movies such as Mermaids, Edward Scissor Hands, The Age of Innocence, Dracula and Little Women. Winona herself produced this movie supposedly (apparently…) as a way to after all establish herself in the industry as one of its most important stars and get the Academy Award that she was so close to get a few years before, but they handed it to Anna Paquin.

But there was Angelina Jolie along the way, who stole all the attention. And the Oscar… After this she got involved with that robbery stuff and her career went down the drain… I believe that if she really wanted awards for this picture, she should've sticked to Lisa's role, played by Jolie, who's by far the best character in the picture, even though it's a supporting character. At least she added a good movie to her resumé.

Sometimes I try to figure out what's her memorable scene in the movie, but I can’t just pick one. They’re all great. The one with the puppet, the one in the isolated room, the one they sing Downtown, the two ones in the ice-cream shop, and several others. The one they showed during the announcement of the nominees in the Oscar is quite good, but they picked a boring part of it. Probably because she curses in all of them. And curse words on television (or body parts like nipples) are pretty much like the end of the world. But violence, war and torture are family-friendly subjects…

Girl, Interrupted is based in an autobiographic book written by Susanna Kaysen, about the time she spent in a mental institution. After trying to commit suicide, Susanna, played by Ryder (extremely skinny), is sent to a psychiatric hospital and diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (nothing to do with Madonna’s song…). She reacts well to the treatment until she befriends Lisa, played by Jolie, a sociopath who’s been there for 8 years.

The cast also includes Brittany Murphy, in one of few moments when she’s not playing comedies, as a sexually abused girl who cuts herself, Jared Leto as Winona’s boyfriend just about to leave to Vietnam, Vanessa Redgrave as the hospital’s psychiatrist and Whoopi Goldberg as the head nurse. It is directed by James Mangold, who did later Kate & Leopold and Walk The Line, two movies that I really like too.

This film also was kind of an end of a phase for Angelina She was in the peek of her “crazy” moment, she had done acclaimed roles in a row, like George Wallace and Gia, that gave her several awards, she married Billy Bob Thornton and excelled in the eccentricities and became an easy target for gossip magazines and websites. After that she just shot lame movies, like Tomb Raider, Alexander and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, that I find very entertaining, a good metaphor for marriage, but it is actually more famous for other reasons.

She’s now getting back on track. She did Changeling and A Mighty Heart (that I really dislike, but it’s a clear evolution), became a humanitarian, adopting needy children, following Mia Farrow’s footsteps. I hope Zahara (or Maddox, as things are going…) don’t steal Brad from her. Terrible comment, I know… Now she replaced Tom Cruise in the police thriller Salt. The script was redone so she could fit in. It will be released in the Summer of 2010.

Anyway, the movie flows very well, it keeps you interested all the time, the cast is very good, even though Angelina has all the great moments, and the soundtrack from the 60’s is like a breeze for the ears, with hits from Simon & Garfunkel, The Mamas & The Papas, Jefferson Airplane, The Band and specially End of The World byt Skeeter Davis and Downtown by Petula Clark. The main subject is one of my favorites. I guess it really brings good discussions and great acting moments. And even with all my enthusiasm, the movie didn't get the best reception. The author of the book hated it, and called it melodramatic because the script includes facts that never actually happened and don't appear in the book. I totally understand her, because she lived the real situation, but not us, so we couldn't exactly know what is accurate or not in the plot. But I really enjoyed what I saw in the screen.