Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 112
Fresh: 60 | Rotten: 52
Critics praise Angelina Jolie's intense performance, but overall they say the movie suffers from flatness of storyline, inability to bring the true spirit of the book to screen, and a diminuative performance by Ryder.
Average Rating: 5.2/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 18
Critics praise Angelina Jolie's intense performance, but overall they say the movie suffers from flatness of storyline, inability to bring the true spirit of the book to screen, and a diminuative performance by Ryder.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 219,401
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Movie Info
In 1967, 19-year-old Susanna (Winona Ryder) feels that "reality is becoming too dense" and is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. The doctor suggests to her parents that she be committed to the Claymore Hospital, and she spends the next 18 months struggling with her troubled psyche and the bizarre world of the institution. Susanna bonds with several other patients, including Lisa (Angelina Jolie), Polly (Elizabeth Moss), and Georgina (Clea DuVall). As she realizes that Lisa is
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Cast
-
Winona Ryder
Susanna Kaysen -
Angelina Jolie
Lisa -
Clea DuVall
Georgia -
Brittany Murphy
Daisy -
Elisabeth Moss
Polly -
Jared Leto
Tobias Jacobs -
Jeffrey Tambor
Dr. Potts -
Vanessa Redgrave
Dr. Wick -
Whoopi Goldberg
Valerie -
Mary Kay Place
Mrs. Gilcrest -
Jillian Armenante
Cynthia -
Angela Bettis
Janet -
Drucie McDaniel
M.G. -
Joanna Kerns
Mrs. Kaysen -
Travis Fine
John -
Kurtwood Smith
Dr. Crumble
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All Critics (115) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (53) | DVD (19)
Does it matter that every time Jolie's offscreen the film wilts a little? Ryder should be perfect as the bright spark; her lines are sharp as a knife. There's a gap, however, between what we hear and what we see.
Top CriticA muddled production that misses the jarring tone of the autobiographical book by Susanna Kaysen on which it is based. The film is entertaining, but not very powerful.
It's difficult to imagine any actress today bringing more sentience and intelligence to [Ryder's] role.
It has neither the clarity nor strength of purpose to engage an audience much beyond the converted.
Unsatisfying and unconvincing.
Girl, Interrupted is Mangold's singular take on the home-front movie: The way he sees it, some women also served time.
Powerful look at mental illness; ages 16+.
Meaty roles for an eager young female ensemble. On that level, and on several others, the movie triumphs.
We end up getting thin supporters as seen through the eyes of a main character that doesn't do anything.
Sounding like the scribblings from a teenager's diary, the 28-year-old Ryder lapses into self-parody.
The two leads play to their strengths.
The screenplay, by helmer Mangold, is by the numbers.
The acting by Ryder, Jolie, and Goldberg is excellent enough to forgive the problems inherent in the script.
Jolie enlivens every scene she's in --- so much so that whenever she's not on screen, many viewers go into a state of suspended animation waiting for her to come back.
Girl, Interrupted" is Hollywood's latest simple-minded treatment of mental illness.
A listless showcase of Hollywood clichés about crazy people, the '60s, and women, a reactionary, distaff Cuckoo's Nest.
[Jolie's] rantings and ravings are so studied and predictable that her work here is truly one of the worst performances of all time.
Audience Reviews for Girl, Interrupted
Super Reviewer
Good Film! It was a very well made film with some terrific acting. Angelina Jolie in probably her best role as an actress won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in that year. Good plot although a little too slow for my taste but decent enough.
Susanna is depressed and directionless after finishing high school in the late 1960's. A suicide attempt lands her in Claymore, a mental institution. She befriends the band of troubled women in her ward (Georgina the pathological liar, the sexually abused Daisy, the burn victim Polly) but falls under the hypnotic sway of Lisa, the wildest and most hardened of the bunch. Will Susanna "drop anchor" at Claymore and perpetually act out like Lisa, or will she finally pull her mind together and leave institutional life behind?
Super Reviewer
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- Susanna Kaysen: When you don't want to feel...death can seem like a dream. But, seeing death...really seeing it, makes dreaming about it fucking ridiculous.
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- Susanna Kaysen: I'm ambivalent. In fact, that's my new favorite word.
- Dr. Wick: Do you know what that means, ambivalence?
- Susanna Kaysen: I don't care.
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- Lisa: Yeah, let's call Valerie shall we, and ask her for some Colace like Susie Q's got in her fuckin' hand. Why does it STINK in here?
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- Susanna Kaysen: Because you're dead already, Lisa! No one cares if you die, Lisa because you're dead already. Your heart is cold. That's why you keep coming back here. You're not free. You need this place, you need it to feel alive. It's pathetic.
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- Susanna Kaysen: Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.
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- Lisa: Razors pain you, rivers are damp, acid stains you, drugs cause cramps, guns aren't lawful, nooses give, gas smells awful, you might as well live.
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Foreign Titles
- Durchgeknallt (DE)
