Rating: 
Summary: Great film, great actors
Review: I have read Susanna Kaysen's memoir, and so I have wanted to see this film for quite a while, and I am glad I have finally seen it. The film is very similar to the book, but there were some changes, which makes the story a little less predictable. The film, like the book, illustrates the unpleasant and sometimes not so unpleasant aspects of the "loony bin." The film is both sad and funny -- I laughed and cried while watching it. The acting? One word: superb. Wynona Ryder's performance was -- by no stretch of doubt -- Oscar-worthy; she should have won an Oscar. Angelina Jolie's portrayal of the imbalanced Lisa was hilarious; she's an actress that's in it for the long haul. Whoopi Goldberg's acting was restrained, but excellent nonetheless. I highly recommend this film; it is this year's One Flew Over A Cuckoo's Nest. A must-see! Oh, and by the way, read the book!
Rating: 
Summary: Going Sane
Review: There is something fascinating about Susanna, the tortured young woman in Girl, Interrupted. Although she has tried to kill herself by chasing a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka, she insists she just had a headache. But it's not the denial that is interesting. It's her insistence that time is flexible and doesn't always travel in straight lines. Winona Ryder (Alien: Resurrection) plays Susanna, an 18 year-old during the turbulent '60s. Unlike all the other kids in her high school, she had no desire to go to college, and her lack of ambition has her parents concerned. When she tries to kill herself, they have her examined and suggest that she take some time out at Claymore, a psychiatric hospital. Introduced to the strange world of Claymore, Susanna finds it frightening. The first few girls seem nice enough, like her roommate Georgina (Clea DuVall) who has an obsession with the world of Oz. But when Lisa (Angelina Jolie, The Bone Collector) arrives, the serenity of the hospital is shattered. Lisa has sociopathic tendencies, and she immediately fixates on Susanna. Jolie's performance is intriguing -- to the point of being frightening. Every movie I have seen her in shows a different side of her talent. While Lisa has moments of calm playfulness, Jolie makes the audience believe that there's something "evil" lurking just beneath the surface. She rightfully deserved the Academy Award she received for her performance. Susanna's own perception of reality causes her to flip through life like skipping around in the pages of a book. A conversation with a psychiatrist may lead to a dinner party her parents threw the previous Christmas. These time jumps can be confusing for the audience at first, but as Susanna adapts to her new environment, these occupancies start to fall away. As a result, the audience must assume that Susanna's stay at the hospital is having a beneficial effect on her. But there are moments that make us consider Susanna's intelligence and that she could be telling the doctors what they want to hear. Ryder does an excellent job of playing the vulnerable Susanna. If there was an award for giving that "doe caught in headlights" look, she'd win it hands down. But Susanna grows during her stay at Claymore, and Ryder does an excellent job of reflecting that change in her performance. Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg does an excellent job as Valerie, one of the attendant nurses at Claymore. Every scene she is in, she steals. Every line she gives is memorable. Sadly, Valerie is a secondary character and doesn't get much screen time. But every moment is golden. Girl, Interrupted is based on the book of the same name by Susanna Kaysen. The book is a true account of Kaysen's experiences at a psychiatric institute in 1967-68.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: it was 1967, and Susanna was a young woman without plans for the future. When a suicide attempt lands her in hospital for the mentally ill, she finds her new surroundings making up for her lack of purpose in the outside world. Very good movie. It is a must see
Rating: 
Summary: Whoop-de-do
Review: If you want to watch a movie that is good, watch "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" instead. The acting was good, but nothing to get excited about. Miss Jolie was fine in her role, but its nothing we haven't seen before. Sure she can say her lines fast without stuttering, but that doesn't mean it deserves an Oscar. This movie made me think hard about one thing: it made me think of several other movies I wish I could of watched instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Not great, but I liked it
Review: "Girl, Interrupted" is the type of film which you can't help but embrace, despite it's obvious flaws. The main thing that kept this from becoming as good as it could of been is it's lack of focus and depth, it's frustrating at times, how the characters and the story are never fully explored. But the lead performances are more than enough to compensate, Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie are both outstanding in their roles, they keep their characters from becoming one-dimensional cliches. It's also hard to forget Brittany Murphy's performance as one of the more troubled patients, she manages to evoke both our dislike and sympathy at the same time. I never lost interest in "Girl, Interrupted", it manages to absorb the viewer into it's story. Even when it takes an unfortunately wrong turn in the end (which by the way, is the film's most disappointing aspect), it's hard to take your eyes off the screen. If you go see this picture with reasonable expectations, you'll be satisfied, just don't expect to be amazed with anything besides it's powerful performances.
Rating:
Summary: JOLIE CAN DO NO WRONG!
Review: To watch "Girl Interrupted" is to watch Angelina Jolie come out of her shell and act circles around such actresses that have garnered acclaim in the past decade. Jolie shines above Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Kim Basinger, Hilary Swank, Mena Suvari, Annete Bening, Thora Birch, and yes of course, Winona Ryder. Jolie's performance will move you, draw you in, and leave you gasping for air.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Representation, But Lacking In...
Review: ...poetry and a poor sense of what it must be like to be struggling with a mental illness. The book, I thought, had much more of a poetic feel about it than this movie cared to let in on. Yes, the story is mainly focused on Susanna Kaysen's stay in the mental institution that housed other famous names in the past, but people are missing the point to what the title means and how she weaves that meaning into the definition of her own sickness. Those who have read the book will know what I'm talking about (the painting) and will agree with me when I say that some part of that should've been incorporated into the story. Instead, the movie focused on its primary stars. Winona, who is a beautiful face and can always maintain that enigmatic glow no matter how bad she looks, and the Morticia Adams of the Oscars' Angelina Jolie, who opted for a terrible-looking but suitable bleach-blonde style for her portrayal of Lisa, the feisty and emotionally-detached socialite. Yes, Angie was good, but I don't think the Oscar should've gone to her in this case, seeing as how there were far better performances last year that should've made the list but didn't. This movie survived off of the names that were in it more than what the story was really about. All of the other actors that portrayed patients in the hospital were exceptional. They should've been looked over more carefully, if you ask me. Then maybe they would've made the list instead of Angelina. Yes, they had less lines, but their performances were more focused. Jolie is keen for characters that are rebellious and reckless, but I don't think that performance in particular was one in a million. If you want to see her in a role similar in nature, then watch the HBO Original movie "Gia". Now that's a noteworthy performance by Jolie. Anyhoo, Ryder did her part well, but there's the hint of too much subtlety at times. The only real time I saw a more accurate representation of what her character must be feeling is when the head nurse dumps Ryder into a tub filled with ice cold water. She then begins screaming and tries to tip the nurse's emotional scales by hitting a nerve with all the derragatory terms she throws left and right. Naturally, when people have an advanced emotional condition, they will try to pull someone else down into the depths with them. That scene was an example of Susanna letting loose her demons onto an innocent by-stander, especially someone who's trying to help her. All in all, I left the theater feeling satisfied, but I could've done without the melodramatic ending. It just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie. Of course, most people say that the book is always better than the movie, but I'm trying to give this one a chance by making an honest comparison. This was a very good adaptation, but could've used a little more poetic and artistic direction and more insight into the minds of the mentally ill.
Rating:
Summary: Heal thyself...
Review: A number of autobiographical tales about young women and mental illness have been filmed (Angel At My Table, Splendor in the Grass). Some of these stories included interaction between ignorant and/or sadistic staff members and "trapped" inmates, others did not. This film does not. "Girl, Interrupted" is the story of a young woman (Winona Ryder) who eventually realizes she holds the key to her life. The staff in the institution she 'attends' are relatively well trained and actually helpful (Vanessa Redgrave), but Ryder's recovery is critically affected by a fellow patient(Angelina Jolie). I don't remember a film so forcefully bringing home the essential truth of recovery from mental illness -- one must choose -- choose to live, choose to get better. When the patient finally chooses, the healing begins.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, it speaks to me
Review: The book is one of the best I have ever read, and I could notput it down. I squeezed my husband's hand so hard in the theaterbecause I saw myself in Susanna, I saw myself in all of them... this book, this movie, show us that none of us is alone in any emotion we experience. American grrls growing up in this time will easily relate to the grrls from the past . . . emotions and confusion never change.
Rating:
Summary: ABSOULTELY AMAZING!
Review: When I watched this movie, I couldn't believe how utterly brilliant it was. Although, Winona wasn't as great as Angelina, the film was still amazing.
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