Movies-TV

Disfunction and Fragility

A serious drama on the subject of mental health which doesn't distort realism with the usual, predictable dramatic devices common to films of this genre. For example, the mental institution's staff are not the usual collection of ogres and idiots.

The two lead actresses play to their strengths in this movie as they are asked to display their essential qualities rather than stretch to new places that they probably couldn't attain. One might criticize it as type-casting but it could also be called intelligent choice. Switching roles would probably have led to a much weaker movie.

Winona Ryder is the fragile, unsure one who rises to a gutty, somewhat predictable decision at the end. Angelina Jolie is the controlling leader of the women at the institution who attracts her followers as well as the audience with her apparent brash fearlessness as she escapes and returns in a repeated pattern of disfunction and instability.

Jolie's performance has, indeed, set off a buzz around Hollywood, the likes of which is often a precursor to a highly regarded career. Look for her to be cast in multiple films in 2000. This girl has the searchlights of stardom splashed all over her. One hopes she will use it in carefully selected roles to establish herself in the higher levels of her profession. Her father's daughter. Jon Voight.

Whoopi Goldberg also stars in a supporting role that is well disciplined to the nature of the story.

The film, though good, would have increased its effectiveness had it not overdone itself by 20 minutes or so. No surprise it won Jolie a Best Supporting Oscar, however.

~~ The Filmiliar Cineaste

The best movie I have ever seen!

Girl, Interrupted was such a great movie! I liked the book a lot, and the movie is just as good (even though it is VERY different). Angelina Jolie did the best performance i have seen on the screen in a while, and Winona Ryder was great too- but i think angelina stole the attention away from her. The story was great; it was funny, exciting and at times a little sad.

GIRL INTERRUPTED

Winona Ryder gives her best performance yet in an understated, and somewhat underrated performance----if all was perfect she would of been the actor with the Academy Award nomination. Not that Angelina Jolie, in a flashy role screaming for attention was bad(she won the Academy Award!), but she's done similar work in Gia. Brittney Murphy leads a superb supporting cast--- and while many critics said it was a film with strong acting, but no destination. It went some place for me, and I can't wait to see it again.

if you haven't seen it...SEE IT NOW

The best movie I have ever seen. So touching, it hit a little too close to home for comfort. There is a little of each of these characters in all of us. Take my advise it is worth your time and money.

Great acting - Weak structure

First of all: the acting, especially that of the two main parts played by Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, is outstanding! Award-worthy!

The movie itself, however, has some weaknesses. Especially in its structure: It does not overcome the obstacles you encounter when you convert a true story diary into a movie. In other words: The movie script is not properly worked through.

Still, the story is very human, and the flashback scenes work pretty well. But the foremost reason to watch »Girl, Interrupted« is the sensitive Susanna (Ryder) and disrespectful Lisa (Jolie).

awesome!

this movie is absolutely briliant. ryder's acts really great. but the coolest thing in this movie is angelina jolie. she is drop dead gorgeous! u go girl!

Insanity is not bliss

This film is the best of the year, bar none. The performances are incredible, especially by the overlooked Ryder who is as good as I've ever seen her. She let her eyes do the talking much of the time. Jolie, of course, is a charismatic sociopath. It is hard to have sympathy for Lisa because of the nature of her actions (towards Daisy, especially), but she is ultimately a sympathetic character because she is so confused. As the Nurse Whoopi says, Lisa thinks insanity helps her see the truth, a sad, though common conception. The movie shows that the best option is to live life and not be caught up in the "romantic" nature of madness. Because of this original, compelling theme, the film is incredibly uplifting. Clea Duvall is adorable as Susanna's "Wizard" loving roommate. All of the girls give strong performances and give us a glimpse of their flawed humanity. The score is also excellent as well as the soundtrack that perfectly underscores the film (I knew the movie would be great when I heard the first notes of "Bookends"). I whole-heartedly recommend this film.

*Jaw drop*

I went into this movie, with two of my better friends, one of their mothers, and one of their sisters. I was the ONLY GUY!

Guys hate that situation, especially when the gals pick the movie, however as an openminded young chap *g* I willingly went along to see the most amazing movie!

Wynona Rider, Angelina Jolie, and Clea DuVall all made me leave the theatre with thoughts about their characters and the such.

The acting, the writing, the EVERYTHING was so amazing about this movie. It was great.

And to boot it's one of the best movies I've ever seen.

girl,interuppted amazing

This movie was truly amazing. I've seen it 4 times. I don't frequent movies very often and found this film could reallly be any of us. I feel if you see it you can relate to one of the many characters. I don't mean you have to be crazy. Many of them are us personified. Anjelina Jolie is dead-on as Lisa. If all of us had just a liitle of Lisa in us the world would be a better place. She is brutally honest and says what is on her mind. The best movie I've ever seen.

Great acting, great movie.

The acting in the film is fantastic. Winona Ryder, Whoopi Goldberg, and Angelina Jolie give great performances. This movie will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, it's dramatic, it's funny, it's suspensful, and a tear jerker. I read the book (which I also recommend) shortly after seeing the movie and my only complaint is that certain interesting details and events were left out of the movie. Overall, this is a great film; men may consider it a "chick flick", but it's a great reenactment of a biography.

Angelina Jolie- The BEST!

I loved this film! The story was great and the actors were greater. Angelina Jolie was phenominal. Her best performance since Gia! Two thumbs up.

Superb casting

In my opinion every woman, girl, lady, female and or wannabe should view this film. Not only were the cast extraordinary in their performances, but the message that was meant to be delivered, arrived. At some time in our life, we all will be a girl, interrupted. I was. And thank you Susan, for your story, and Winona for reaching deep within to pull out those emotions that to us, the viewers, were real. And as for Ms. Jolie, congradulations on your award, well deserved.

And then God Created Angelina, Thank You!

What can I say. I haven't enjoyed a film with Winona Ryder so much since Heathers. She really reaches down and shows an emotional complexity in this role that she hadn't before, and is compelling because of it. As for Angelina Jolie I can't say enough. She really blew me away. Her character is tough,vulnerable, sex starved, and has attitude to spare that intertwine and make her the most magnetic character of the story. The scene at the end shows just how heartbreaking she can be. If she doesn't win an oscar for this there is no sanity left in the world, and if you see the film you'll understand the irony. Jolie is a god send to a tired person who was looking for someone new and exciting to make movie going something to look forward to. I can't wait to see what she'll do next.

Finally, it speaks to me

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.

Intensity

This film is amazing. I've read the book numerous times and love it, the movie actually does the book justice! The casting is perfect and it is so well acted. Very true to life and thought provoking. See this movie!

ABSOULTELY AMAZING!

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.

Madness

I recently saw the movie Girl, Interupted ( Friday April, 28, 2000 ). I highly recommend it. This is a disturbingly beautiful movie about a young woman's dealings about being in a mental institution in the late 1960's.

Not an optimistic story, but truly superb acting...

The performance by Miss Jolie is in itself worth the stars - just the way her eyes manages to go from a totally dead to a manic expression is fantastic. She deserves her Oscar, if anyone does. She overglows the other actors, though they all play very convincing parts in the story. It might not be a nice, sugar-coated and easy-to-digest story - but it is very moving, food for thoughts and supreme acting.

Fine performances mark a fine film.

I watched "Girl, Interrupted" with a friend of mine in west Los Angeles in a theater full of college to middle-aged women. Honestly, folks, this is Winona Ryder's best performance to date, although it might not be immediately obvious because of the tremendous subtlety in her acting. Sure, Angelina Jolie is electrifying, but in obvious ways since her role was clearly the flashier of the two. Despite rumors that they didn't get along too well during the shoot, Ryder and Jolie work very well together onscreen, and the supporting cast is stellar, particularly Clea DuVall (Georgina) and Brittany Murphy (Daisy). There are a few scenes in this movie that present some of Ryder's very best acting of all of her films.

Director James Mangold (Heavy, Cop Land) did a fine job avoiding cheap sentimentality, and I was impressed with his fluid adaptation of a very disjointed and unconventional narrative work. My one complaint is that the film wasn't as gritty or as emotionally resonant as I would have liked, so I walked out of the theater feeling more impressed with the performances than impacted by the story. Still, for any Winona Ryder fan, this movie--with its 2 hours full of close-ups of Ryder's hauntingly beautiful face--is an absolute dream. Multiple layers of muted anguish are registered in Ryder's expressive eyes, and her most powerful acting in this film comes out through her subtle facial expressions rather than any spoken words. "Girl, Interrupted" is not a disappointment by any means. If anything, it has strengthened my respect for Winona Ryder as an actor.

One of the best soul searching movies in a while

Girl Interupted is by far, in my opinion, one of the best movies of it's genre. It has a command performance cast that put it's heart into each and every one of their performances, and it shows! Angelina Jolie obviously did a great job of performing as a cold-hearted young woman, but let's not forget actresses Whoopi Goldberg, who was solid as a caring nurse, as well as the actress Winona Ryder, who many people so poorly overlooked. I honestly thought that Winona should have gotten an Oscar for her performance as her potrayal of Susana Kaysen from a scared frightened little girl to a stronger much more healthy young woman. Once again, Girl Interupted is a great movie. I look forward to watching it on DVD as soon as it comes out and hope that this movie will be one of your top-10 wanted discs this year.