Review of Girl, Interrupted (1999) by Harry W — 31 Oct 2013

Girl, Interrupted suffers from a confusing story structure, occasionally weak dialogue with a little much swearing and some aspects that seem fairly illogical or cliche, but in the end it succeeds as a drama with many film elements from the 1975 classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Girl, Interrupted features a soundtrack that can be either energetic or creepy when it wishes to and therefore leaves no ambiguity to the tone of the situation.

When Girl, Interrupted wishes to be intense, the viewer feels the atmosphere through film aspects such as mind-setting cinematography and varying speed of editing.

Angelina Jolie also gives a great performance in Girl, Interrupted as a character with a balance between emotional weakness and physical stability to make her willing to stand up, but prone to getting knocked down which makes her a complex character, and despite being given the majority of the misplaced swearing in the dialogue, she manages to deliver her lines with natural talent.

This greatest part of Girl, Interrupted that seems to be ignored in lieu of Angelina Jolie's performance and deserved many awards was the powerful lead from Winona Ryder. Her portrayal of Susanna Kaysen is excellent because she's emotionally fragile and breaks down to the bare image of a damaged girl well when the story requires her to, but also makes the viewer really question many societal norms when she presents them to the viewer from her from the point of view of a girl who's had her life interrupted. The story is about a Girl Interrupted, and that's what Winona Ryder is in this film, and her performance keeps the story moving well even when it gets into difficult territory to tread in. Her performance is worthy of an Academy-Award nomination, and one of the greatest performances of her career and one good enough to make me deem her one of my favourite actresses.

So Girl, Interrupted appeals to people interested in a portrayal of mental institutions, people willing to see the performance that won Angelina Jolie an Academy Award and people who wish to see just a talented cast in play, and one of Winona Ryder's best performances.