GIRL, INTERRUPTED A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
GIRL, INTERRUPTED, based on the best selling autobiography by Susanna Kaysen, tells the true story of her 18-month stay at a mental institution in the late 1960s. With strong performances by Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie and an ensemble cast, the film can be thought of as a female version of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST.
When we meet Susanna (Ryder), she's a spaced-out, nervous 17 year old, who recently woofed down a bottle of vodka after taking a bottle of aspirin for her headache. A withdrawn and angry girl with a mother who appears to be the crazy one in the family, Susanna is sent by her parents to a mental hospital to get better. Once there, she is diagnosed with "Borderline Personality Disorder," a disease that's as mild as it sounds and probably afflicts half of the country.
While institutionalized, Susanna meets and bonds with girls who have a cornucopia of cases of more traditional mental illnesses. The movie's problems start here. Rather than concentrating on Susanna's case, the democratic script feels duty bound to let everyone tell their story. This lack of focus is frustrating. Although the other characters -- the burnt girl, the bulimic girl, the lying girl, the anorectic girl, the fat girl, etc. -- each have interesting moments on stage, they take away time better devoted to the central story. Certainly, when we do learn more about Susanna's life, it is frighteningly fascinating.
As the patients' ringleader and chief bad girl, Lisa (Jolie) plays the story's most unstable character. Given equal screen time, Lisa is an even more frustrating character than Susanna. We learn little about Lisa other than her behaviors, which include leading her band in various sophomoric stunts like breaking into the principal's -- oops, I mean the therapist's -- office, after lights out. The movie, which sometimes reminds one of a silly teen comedy, can be quite funny at times, usually to the detriment of the drama.
Director James Mangold (COP LAND) has constant troubles maintaining the show's tone. It isn't until the last act that he tosses out all pretense of humor and sticks to the dramatic. The surprise is that, rather than improving the movie, it makes you realize that it's only as a comedy that this movie really works.
Susanna's brutally honest and benevolent nurse (Whoopi Goldberg) seems to sum up her problems best, telling her that she is "a lazy, self-indulgent, little girl, who is driving herself crazy." The truth to Susanna's real mental problems, if there are any, isn't revealed in the picture. This is a shame since the movie makes it easy to empathize with her predicament. The film just leaves you feeling empty and wanting to know more.
GIRL, INTERRUPTED runs 2:05. It is rated R for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality and suicide. It would be acceptable for older teens.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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