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Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted

List Price: $14.94
Your Price: $11.95
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stunning portrayal of several characters & well-earned Oscar
Review: Winona Ryder is back from several years of lull in any highly memorable roles in major movies, and she is right on form with possibly her best performance yet. But that is certainly not all this movie has to offer. She plays Susannah Kaysen, an inpatient for a year at a mental hospital, who wrote the book about her real life story on which this is based. Not only Susannah but several of the other inpatients are most memorable characters. Angelina Jolie won Best Supporting Actress for playing Lisa, a sometimes menacing and always interesting patient there because of her anti-social personality. Other quite meomrable characters include a pathological liar who is Susannah's usually sweet roommate, played by Clea DuVall, and the Sullen and obsessed Daisy, who will eat nothing but chicken from her father's rotisserie, played by Brittany Murphy. Through her own struggles and interactions with the others, Susannah confronts in a memorable way some of the hot issues of the late 1960's, making this almost a nostalgia trip as well as a riveting human drama.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Girl, Interrupted will leave you speechless
Review: After seeing so many empty movies, Girl, Interrupted certainly leaves an impression upon me. Girl, Interrupted is a nearly perfect movie based on a perfect book. Winona Ryder does an absolutely amazing job portraying lost soul Susanna Kaysen... her eyes alone do a wonderful job of portraying pain and confusion. Angelina Jolie gives yet another solid performance as this tale's tormented and tormenting sociopath; it's no surprise she won an Oscar for her interpretation of Lisa. The supporting cast of Girl, Interrupted is fantastic as well; Clea DuVall's Georgina has trapped herself in a fantasy world, Elizabeth Moss's scarred Polly never wants to grow up, and Brittany Murphy's Daisy shocks and saddens. A stunning use of flashbacks interspersed with present events moves the movie forward as you learn more about Susanna and company. The only complaint I have about this movie is the typical Hollywood ending tacked on at the end. Definitely not enough to spoil the film or even mar it slightly, but I expected better after reading the utterly compelling novel. This movie is a winner that will be enjoyed. Being 18 myself, I can completely relate: "Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A film that really messes with your head
Review: Girl, Interrupted is beyond excellent. This film seemed to have brought out the finest acting in Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder, for their performences seemed wholehearted. Watch it if you haven't already!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: VERY HIGH QUALITY
Review: This is the one of very few movies I can watch time and time again. Every time you can see something new in it. It is well done from all prospectives and points of view but acting takes the cake. All actors (leading, supporting and just a figure in the hall) were good and I don't even know who was better. They all deserve the highest marks. I reccomend this movie with five stars.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
Review: Girl Interrupted was on last tonight. You know when the shoplifter reads about BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER? What a revelation! That's me - well, except for the CASUAL SEX - but the DIRECTIONLESSNESS and the SELF-DESTRUCTIVE ACTS (I quit my job the other day).

All this time I thought I was an existentialist. I was wasting my evenings on Camus and Kierkegaard (my back is like a tightrope dancer's, twisted in my childhood, and therefore it is easy for me. One, two, three - I can walk upside in existence). What comfort: the condition is medical not metaphysical.

All I needs do is clear up my skin. Then I aim to complete those symptoms ... and I'd like to begin with Anjelina Jolie ... and even if she got all serious on me, that would be okay: I'd explain to her: the disorder was what was casual (- it was part of my directionlessness). Not you. My aim is true - I'm an existentialist.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pardon The Interruption
Review: Based on the memior of Susanna Kaysen Girl, Interuppted is a decent drama that, thanks to solid performances is more than just a One Flew Over The Cockoo's Nest rehash.

Actress Winona Ryder stars as Susana, a troubled teenager whose confused attempt at suicide lands her in a mental hospital. Once there, she meets an odd assortment of patients, and hospital saff. One patient named Lisa, (Angelina Jolie), in particular, surprises Susana with her uninhibited demeanor. The pair form a tight bond, but that connection is threatened when Lisa begins to spiral even further out of control. Even as Dr. Melvin Potts (Jeffery Tambor), Dr. Sonia Wick, (Vanessa Redgrave), and Valerie Owens, RN (Whoppi Goldberg) offer both obstacle and assistance to Susana.

Directed by James Mangold, the film is a sobering look at what this period in Susana life was like at the time. While the movie is obviously geared more to a female audience, Jolie and Ryder are so effective here, that my concerns of "chick flick-itis" were really unwarranted. Given the nature of the plot, it's impossible not to compare the film to other movies of this type, but it's really able to stand on its own.

The DVD boasts a solid audio commentary from Mangold. He discusses the filmming process, his approach to the material, and on set tidbits. Mangold also offer comments about a series of deleted scenes that were wisely cut, but stiil ineresting to see nonetheless. You can also hear the film's score on an isolated track if you like. There's also an HBO First Look Special that's the most fluffy extra on the disc and has and everything on it you might expect from something like this. Production notes and the theatrical trailer round out the bonus material.

Not just for the ladies, Girl Interruppted, works because of Jolie, who, along with her turn in the HBO telefilm Gia, proved she can do it all as an actress.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: So, what's your diag-nonsense?
Review: The movie is based on the real life story of Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), who was admitted to Claymoore, a mental institution, in the late 60's after drowning a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. She insists this wasn't a suicide attempt, but her parents and psychiatrist don't agree. While at Claymoore, Susanna meets the ohter inmates, Georgina (Clea Duvall), her roommate, who's a pathological liar, Polly (Elisabeth Moss), who everyone calls Torch and has been badly scarred by fire, Daisy (Britanny Murphy), who won't eat in front of anyone, Janet (Angela Bettis), who won't eat at all, and most importantly, Lisa (Angelina Jolie). Lisa is a sociopath. She constantly escapes Claymoore, only to return after having a crisis (or running out of money). She "runs" the place and is a major pain in the ass for Nurse Valerie (Whoopi Goldberg).

Soon after, Susanna starts to wonder if she's indeed crazy or if she's turning crazy by being there. The doctors at Claymoore, Melvin (Jeffrey Tambor) and Dr. Wick (Vanessa Grave) seem to think she's mentally ill, while her boyfriend Toby (Jared Leto) disagrees.

Susanna has to deal with the situation, trying not to spiral into insanity, but at the same time finding a substitute for a home amongst this group of rejects.

As for the acting, it is solid all across the board. Ryder does a convincing job as the lead character and all of the other actresses shine in their roles, especially Murphy, but this is Jolie's film. She steals almost every scene she's in, from the distressed crying on one of her downs, to frighteningly mad outbursts, to maniac lunacy. She earned a well deserve Oscar for her supporting role.

The director, James Mangold, has also helmed films like Cop Land (1997, with Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel), Kate & Leopold (2001, with Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan) and Identity (2003, with John Cusack, Ray Liotta and Amanda Peet).

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Ambivalent Little Women
Review: This drama focuses the coming-of-age story of Susana (Winona Ryder), a young girl who`s in the last years of adolescence and still doesn`t know what to do in the future. Due to a suicide attempt, she is sent to a psychiatric institution where she must overcome her mental problems, particularly her "borderline personality". The thing is, Susana isn`t really that mad or insane, just a tad confused and lost. When she meets her mates in the institution, she starts questioning the world around her and the frontier between sanity and madness. Susana soon develops a tight friendship with Lisa (Angelina Jolie), a clever yet unstable and sometimes ferocious girl.

Director James Mangold delivers an intriguing story here, giving a glimpse into the sixties zeitgeist and the generational problems of a youth without strong references and guidance. The plot is not all that original, as it basically combines "One Flew Over the Cuckoos` Nest" and "Little Women", but the acting, dialogue and score make up for some of the plot`s weaknesses.

"Girl, Interrupted" is a fine drama about becoming an adult and starting to see the world under a new perspective, which indeed can lead to an "ambivalent" state as Susana discovers here. It`s not as risky as it should, since some major problems are handled with a light touch, but overall it has enough depth and complexity to become a meaningful effort.

True, the movie has some unecessary cheesy and melodramatic scenes at parts, approaching predictable Hollywood fluff, but fortunately the good moments still outweight the bad ones. At least it`s much better than Mangold`s latest achievements, the uninteresting "Kate and Leopold" and "Identity", and the two lead actresses are stunning and credible (the rest of the cast is convincing as well, even if the characters lack proper development).
"Girl, Interrupted" deserves a watch, since it rises above the mediocre, uninspired and uselless teen flicks around.

Worthwile and compelling.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent movie
Review: I love this movie. I especially thought angelina Jolie did a great job. quite a sad ending, though.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I'd Call It A "Coming of Age" Story...
Review: ... It's just that this one deals with messed-up girls in a mental clinic. Winona's character goes through a mental transformation during her stay in the clinic that effectively takes her out of adolescence and into adulthood. I think the film's about that as much as it is about insanity and its treatment. Gives the story a fairly powerful ending, I thought.

Another good reason to see the film is Angelina Jolie, who manages to be engagingly charismatic and also scary-weird. The best part I've seen her in. She really injects a lot of energy into the movie. (Winona is also very good).


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