Review of Prozac Nation (2003) by Neil R — 09 Dec 2018

This film, while flawed, has Christina Ricci and Jessica Lange turning in powerful performances in a, dead on, brilliant character study of a person who suffers from borderline personality disorder, with its self destructive behaviors, fears of abandonment and depression. Christina Ricci really captured the conflict that rages inside of the character. She is not an "a-hole", but a person in pain wanting everyone to feel her pain, which no one does. Borderline personality disorder is a train barreling over a cliff, taking everyone close, helplessly with it and no seeming way to stop it.

Those who called Elizabeth " whiny ", "screeching ", "a-hole " and other labels have no idea what is going on here. But they do actually typify the general reactions to people who suffer from this condition.

All that being said, this film does have flaws. It spent so much of the film drawing Elizabeth's character, her mother and their relationship, that there was very little time for the resolution at the end. Also, the father character was very unsympathetic and rather two dimensional. I found the narrated " happy ending " disappointing, although I am happy that the writer was able to come to terms with her illness.

This film is not for everyone. But anyone who has a person like this in their life and struggling to understand what is happening, should see this film.