Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Dark,loved it!!!!!

Wynona Ryder has always been one of my all time favs. People always say this is a chick flick but it's much more than that. The performances are top of the line and the film manages to take a very sensitive subject matter (mental illness) and balance it with the right amount of comedy and drama. I get so angry with some of these institutions and their treatment of vulnerable women so films like this help to bring attention to people struggling with demons. Angelina Jolie is superb in this film. This is one of my favorite Jolie films. May 25, 2008

Dark and revealing.

It took me two or three viewings to feel comfortable with the problems of the main characters, particularly Brittany Murphy's Daisy, but I began to see what a well-handled study of madness, 'the System' and unhealable sadness this film is.

Angelina Jolie finally proved that she could act. The Oscar is richly deserved because her performance is so meticulous and moving. Winona Ryder is cautious and difficult to feel for at first, but she shows more skill as her character begins to empathise with Jolie's sociopathic Lisa and Murphy's tragic Daisy.

This film rewards repeated viewings because it is emotionally rich and absorbing. April 9, 2008

Insanely Good!!!

If you're like me, and you love movies where characters are little bit insane, then this movie is for you. Angelina Jolie puts on one of my favorite performances and is terrific in the film. Buy this movie! April 7, 2008

None Immune

I'm always curious to see how the plight of women regarding healthcare, particularly psychological and mental healthcare is depicted in art. I consider any fiction on the topic to be a mere sliver of what really goes on behind such closed doors, this being even more the case in the repressed climate of the 1960s. Set in Claymoore, a private mental hospital for young women, the prevailing curiosity of the film is determining if the girls are truly ill, or if they just don't adhere to the morays of the era. In most cases it seems to be a bit of both, the level of tragedy as compelling in either.

The story is told from the perspective of Susanna, Ryder's character, who is certainly suffering from depression and repression. As Susanna endures the bumps of settling in we are introduced to the girls on her ward. She also establishes relationships with the facility's staff, namely a nurse played by Whoopi Goldberg, who certainly fills a mentor role for Susanna. Being the narrative bridge between these two worlds establishes Susanna as a reasonably reliable perspective for us to get a glimpse into these womens' lives. Some are there to cope with behaviours stemming from abuse, tragedy, and deeply seated psychotic imbalance. We navigate those waters with Susanna as their stories are divulged. However, as she learns more about them she becomes more caught up in their processes, somewhat losing sight of her own. In the end she has to decide between finally feeling at home among peers and the balanced instruction of her keepers, against working to heal and leave the ward.

The story is compelling and edgy, though not nearly as enthralling as I'd hoped. The writing is well done, though the acting feels somewhat stiff from most of the cast--Ryder in particular. This role does not seem to be a far stretch from many of her quirky 'ultra-femme needing to find herself' roles. The soundtrack is an interesting combo,too. All in all the film does a great job of depicting the many shapes, sizes and flavors of mental illness and the management of it, and in honoring how we all have interrupted moments. January 28, 2008

I was sitting in the hospital as I read the book.

This was so strange. I had been in this hospital for 3 weeks, to be perfectly honest, for depression. McClean's. I was feeling a little better so took this book from the library. Well, I couldn't believe it when I relised I was in the same hospital as the book. I knew this to be true because not only was the hospital name the same but they spoke of tunnels where you could go from one building to another and I'd been down them plenty of times. In groups with "the police patrol" as we called them.
The book itself was excellent. Although as far as I know, no one was ever in the hospital for longer than a month. And those bloody "police control" did there daily 5 minute rounds. I also watched the movie which I must say is much better than the book. More detail. And Angeelia Jolie is fantastic. She makes the movie. I'm glad she won the oscar. November 22, 2007

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