Girl, Interrupted

viewed January 25, 2000 at the Metreon

For full information about this film, click here

Is Angelina Jolie for real?  This girl has come out of nowhere and in her early twenties already has three Golden Globes and an Oscar Nomination to her name.  Not only is she knockout gorgeous, but she has a wiry presence that dominates anyone who dares to take a share of the screen with her.  Her talent is raw and flashy, and completely absorbing.  

Unfortuately in this film it is too loud to go along with Winona Ryder's more nuanced repertoire of facial expressions and vocal lilts.  It's not really a fault with Jolie -- she did everything that was asked of her, getting downright ugly if needed.  Ryder also tries her best, but is drowned out by Jolie for three-quarters of the movie -- when Jolie disappears near the end Ryder finally gets some room to act (an odd predicament since Ryder was one of the producers).  For this, I point my finger at director James Mangold for spending not enough time exploring how to present the variety of emotional displays put on by the two leads as well as the rest of the talented cast playing troubled girls.  Instead he smooths everything out with montage sequences, pop songs and a lot of your conventional hysterical female shrieking.  The ward and the chemistry between its occupants invites comparisons with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, all negative.

Whoopi Goldberg serves up a matronly turn as the ward's supervisor -- she carries along a lot of mammy stereotypes, which the film, in its most unexpected and  interesting scene, addresses head on.  The girls all have their quirks (or else why would they be locked up?) but Mangold, instead of trying to understand them on their terms, comes down on a judgmental I-made-it-out-and-the-rest-of-you-didn't conclusion.  It's like spitting on people when they're already down.

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Read Roger Ebert's review

Read Wesley Morris' review (S.F. Examiner)