Review of Girl, Interrupted (1999) by Amanda C — 30 Mar 2012

A great movie up until the final 30 minutes. This might lead you to think that it starts out with a bang and ends with a wimper, but it's actually the opposite. I loved the first half of this movie, which quietly follows Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder) from what appears to be a privileged upper middle class life to a voluntary stay at a psychiatric institution after she takes a whole bottle of aspirin and chases it with a bottle of vodka.

The story begins slowly and quietly, introducing us to the other troubled girls at the instutution including Lisa, an especially troubled sociopath (over) played by Angelina Jolie. In fact, many of the other characters are so interesting (including Whoopi Goldberg as a nurse and Jared Leto as a draft dodger) that they overshadow the main character, which is definitely a flaw in the overall story.

As I've already mentioned, the movie ends with an overwrought, overly dramatic scene that betrays many of the earlier more genuine scenes. Angelina Jolie definitely chews up the scenary beyond recognition here, and it's not a good thing.