Rating: 
Summary: Girl, Interrupted
Review: Declared healthy and sent back into the world, my final diagnosis a recovered Borderline, what that is I still dont know! Whas I ever crazy or just live is? crazy isnt being broken or swallowing a dark secret its you or me, the emplivide. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it, if you ever wished you could be a child forever! They were not perfect but they were my friends, and by the 70's most of them were out! Living lives, some I've seen, some never again! But there isnt a day in my live I cant find them!
Rating: 
Summary: Not that great...
Review: Any drama about a mental institution set in the 60's is of course going to draw comparisions to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. This movie is no exception, with many similarities abounding throughout the film.One film is a classic, the other, not quite as good, and certainly not a 4 or 5 star film as many zealous fans say it is. Comparing the two films show where Girl, Interrupted goes wrong. It's not a bad film, it has some very good acting, with a great performance by Angelia Jolie, a good performance by Ryder, and solid ensemble work. Where the films strays off into weak areas is in its presentation of characters and storyline. What made One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest so interesting, was that you knew all the inmates were out of their minds, but you didn't know by how much or why. There was a mystery to each character, and each scene was unpredictable. Here, characters are fleshed out with obvious problems like weight disorders, pathelogical lying, disfigurment, etc... It is not that their problems are obvious, but they are presented through cliches linked with each respective illness. This, and all the scenes you would expect in a 60's mental institution make the film's dramatic elements rather hollow. It is easy to understand the characters, but hard to get attached. The film also tries too hard to push the idea that these folks are not as insane as the chaotic times that surround them. What made Cuckoo's Nest great, was that none of the characters explained themselves. We learned as much as we could by their actions. This not only kept things interesting, but made us try to understand them and drew us into the story. For its merits, Girl, Interrupted is too plain to be more than mildly entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Thought it would be bad but it's really excellent
Review: Unlike other films involving mental illness, "Girl Interrupted" treats its subject matter in an intelligent and non-manipulative fashion. The fact that the film maker and cast did not try to exploit every cheap device that they could from the fact that most of the characters were in a mental institution made this film powerful and believable. Although "Girl Interrupted" takes place in a mental institution and contains mentally ill characters, the problems and issues it raises are universal and apply to the mentally fit as well. To one extent or another, almost all of the patients in this film possess a core of sanity and rational behavior. For this reason, they can evaluate their situations and improve upon them like any one else. The film also contains wonderful humor and drama. The climactic confrontation between Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder at first appears to be another chase scene out of a cheap thriller when in fact it is a battle of wits and a measure of perception. In the end this film contains no villains (although it has its share of villainous acts), but it has many silent, struggling heroes. Winona Ryder and Woopie Goldberg provide absolutely solid performances. I thought Winona was going to play a sweet, weepy, mental patient that slept around a lot, but her character contained extraordinary and subtle depth. My compliments to her. Angelina Jolie's character was larger than life, but this fits the context of the film. I really thought I wasn't going to like this movie but it was great. Check it out.
Rating:
Summary: funny, touching and a blond crazy Angelina Jolie
Review: i loved it! angie did a great performance she really diserved the oscar good work! and winona, why wasnt she nominated! the story wasnt very originall but it was an unforgetabel movie! with very imotional scenes and phrases! im not crazy but my favorite phrase in the film is:"dont point your finger at crazy people!" im really not crazy. oh do you know what a "recovered bordingline" is?
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is beautifully acted by Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, and the rest of the cast. The performances themselves are reason enough to see this movie. This is a moving and at times very humorous movie that is wonderfully acted. A MUST HAVE.
Rating:
Summary: A Cautionary Tale
Review: Girl, Interrupted tells of the critical turning point in the main character's (Susanna, portrayed by Winona Ryder) life -- a period when she was in a mental institution and had to choose between the cool comfort of insanity or the harsh reality of sanity. The film take place primarily in the institution, and as such can be a bit harrowing at times. The characters are a little bit one-dimensional, save for Susanna and Lisa, portrayed by Angelina Jolie. These two serve as icons for "good" and "bad" and drive the narrative forward as Susanna struggles to find her path. Overall, this film does a good job of conveying the difficulty of a woman in the 1960s having to contend with the pressures of the external world alongside the pressures of the internal world (this film could have also been called "Reality Bites" another Ryder flick). There are some scenes that might be disturbing to young children, so adult supervision is recommended. If you have ever felt "ambivalent" (nicely defined in the film), this is a tape worth acquiring.
Rating: 
Summary: So much more could've been done with Angelina
Review: I had heard that Angelina Jolie had outshown Winona Ryder in this movie. I dissagree. I was a bit disappointed in that they chose to have Angelina's character so over the top. She is a good actress, and could have handled more depth to her character. You never really saw what drove her. I recognize that this was to illustrate her dominating character and maybe to keep focus on Winona's character. However, Angelina's character was a counterpoint to Winona's and could have been used to show how the balance of power was changing. Winona Ryder played a girl institutionalized by her own hand. Ironically, this was because her parents told her to do so and could not have done so without her cooperation. She is pulled by many people and it shows she is recovering when she says "No" to a boyfriend when he asks her to run away with him. This young woman's illness was giving too many people control over her life and her only control (or so she thought) was to end that life. Her acting was spectacular and very subtle. Her big brown eyes conveyed all the levels of emotion she was feeling. It was a good movie and illustrates that some "mental illnesses" are in many ways environmentally triggered, which is all more the pity. Seeing this before American Beauty was an interesting comparison. In American Beauty, the inmates are in control.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking and beautiful...
Review: I think watching Girl, Interrupted has changed my life. It is amazing, sad, shocking, and at times darkly humorous. One feels that he or she is there with Suzanna as she copes with a personality disorder and a slew of other young women sharing a dormatory at South Bell. Ryder is amazing as Lisa, the deeply disturbed sciopath, and Goldberg is prefect as head nurse, bringing the right combation of gruffness and motherly affection to the film. Beware, this film is shocking, and will leave the softhearted crying (I needed a whole day to recover after watching the movie)However, the film leaves one wondering what happened to Suzanna's friends in the ward. The film hits deep and gives one a lot to think about.
Rating:
Summary: Sad, touching, real
Review: I felt that this movie was one that many different people could relate to. It seemed that all of the characters were examples of problems that each one of us could relate to-- Eating disorders, search for normalcy and depression-- among others. Although very sad, I think it is well worth watching and the performances (especially that of Angelina Jolie) are heartfelt and real. A must see for any young woman!
Rating:
Summary: But Five Stars for Angelina!
Review: There's nothing really new here. We've all seen movies set in asylums before, and this one's more predictable than most. Just about every scene director James Mangold puts on the screen tips itself off (when you here the golden oldie "End of the World" being played over and over again on an old 45 you pretty much know how that scene's going to turn out). It's set back in the 1960s, but--if you set aside the cigarette smoking by nearly every member of the cast--it still has an 00s look about it. The ensemble cast saves the day. Winona Ryder, with her luminous dark eyes and this time out with short hair, is as good as she's ever been (and has she ever been bad?), Whoopi Goldberg brings something fresh to the role of the "tough love" nurse, and Vanessa Redgrave has two great cameos. And then there is sultry, smirky, Angelina Jolie. Cast as the (blonde this time out) sociopath with the heart of ice, she's absolutely riveting. She enters the movie late and immediately begins to offer Ryder, and us, something to contemplate other than Ryder's own borderline personality disorder. Jolie's eyes gleam with maniacal energy as she takes the movie to a higher level than it really deserves. Of course she won the Oscar for her performance, and she deserved it.
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