I never thought that mental illness could be portrayed in such a stale, anonymous manner but that is how "Girl, Interrupted" unspools its subject matter. The film wants to make the case that mental illness can be a state of mind for some, and a strong reality for others - If only the young women portrayed possessed some core of humanity.
The film begins with Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), an 18-year-old who has just drunk a bottle of vodka while ingesting a bottle of aspirin. She is diagnosed with "borderline personality disorder," and is thus sent to Claymoore hospital in Boston. The screenplay, adapted from Susanna Kaysen's true-to-life novel, never makes it clear whether Susanna admitted herself to the hospital or if her parents had her admitted. Nevertheless, she is taken in to Claymoore's psychiatric facility, and supervised by a head nurse played by Whoopi Golodberg. Susanna is faced with an array of distinguished women such as one who nearly burned her face off, another one obsessed with laxatives and chicken, and so on. The one foxy chick who seems truly nutty, pardon the pun, is Lisa (Angelina Jolie), a highly dangerous sociopath who confuses her aorta with her neck. Lisa feels threatened at first by Susanna but gradually, they click together.
While watching "Girl, Interrupted," I was reminded of the stark documentary, "Titicut Follies" by Frederick Wiseman, which dealt with the horrors of a mental hospital. When you saw the patients, you knew they were patients afflicted with an illness. The same holds true of Milos Forman's classic "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." "Girl, Interrupted" features patients that might be at home in TV's "Dawson's Creek" - that might be a little extreme but these women hardly seem troubled, only bland occupants of a far too sanitized looking institution.
The problem lies in the screenplay that supplies character types, not true characters of depth and emotion. Susanna hardly seems the slightest bit troubled - her scene with the psychiatrist should have convinced him that she was perfectly sane but what do I know. Perhaps in 1967, before Prozac became a household name, psychiatrists had their own preconceived notions of what mental illness was. But these girls seem relatively harmless, even to themselves. This is more like a watered down version of "Cuckoo's Nest," and far too bland to inspire much interest.
The sparkle of "Girl, Interrupted" can be found in Jolie's vibrant, edgy performance. She brings soul and an allure to Lisa, and it is gut-wrenching to watch her. Her long blonde silvery hair and big, clownish lips evoke a tough, sexy demeanor that is riveting to watch. I would followed this complex character anywhere.
The rest of "Girl, Interrupted," however, is yawn-inducing and lacking in thematic richness. It sort of drifts away and hardly leaves a trace of itself. The boredom is seldom interrupted.
For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://buffs.moviething.com/buffs/faust/
E-mail me with any questions, comments or complaints at jerry@movieluver.com or at Faust667@aol.com
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