Ross622 James Mangold's "Girl, Interrupted" is the best film that I have seen about disabled people since "Rain Man" (1988) but the key difference between those two films is that this movie is based on true events. The movie stars Winona Ryder as Susanna Kaysen who wrote the book that this movie was adapted from and it talks about her time and experience in a mental hospital in the 1960's but at first it isn't that easy for her to make many friends. During her first few days the only person she really trusts is the supervising nurse named Valerie (Whoopi Goldberg) whose job is very difficult and Goldberg's character is the polar opposite of Nurse Ratched who was played by Louise Fletcher in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). As her time in the hospital progresses Susanna meets a girl named Georgina (Clea Duvall), and then meets a girl who everyone really gets annoyed with and despises at times is a girl named Lisa (Angelina Jolie) who has a really bad attitude. Then in one scene we see Kaysen's boyfriend named Tobias Jacobs (Jared Leto) who is trying to sneak Susanna out of the hospital but Susanna refuses. Other friends that Susanna happens to make are girls named Daisy (Brittany Murphy), Polly (Elisabeth Moss) and others. The reason why Susanna Kaysen was sent to the hospital in the first place was because she was very suicidal which she was sent there by a psychiatrist named Dr. Potts (Jeffrey Tambor). The other doctor in the mental hospital has a very weird last name and her name is Dr. Wick (Vanessa Redgrave), the movie has an excellent cast and great performances throughout which are so good because it really makes you empathize with each and every one of the characters and we feel like we are actually there getting to know them. As the great Roger Ebert once said that "For me the movies are a machine that generates empathy, it helps to understand hopes, dreams, aspirations and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us." and that is exactly how I felt with this and many other movies. Despite this movie being one of the best films of 1999 it isn't the very best movie that James Mangold ever directed (that would be "Walk the Line" (2005) which also happened to be a biopic). James Mangold has done a very good by making this movie just focus on the characters and their feelings instead of just shedding a bad light on them as people even though we know their problems are bad just like Barry Levinson did with "Rain Man" 11 years before this movie was made. This was a truly great movie but as a warning it might only be worth watching once.

Eka Herlyanti Psychological and biographical movie always be my interest. Maybe because sometimes I think the same thought as Susanna Kaysen. Not only when I was young, but until now when I have reached maturity. It's like being illuminated of the mind of people with mental illness. I can see their daily lives and how they interact with each other, and with normal people. But watching this movie, honestly I am a little bit confounded by the definition of normal and crazy people. It's seems superficial. Self-control is the key, I guess.I really all the casts in this movie, particularly Angelina Jolie. Her role is another version of Gia with a bolder and fearless personality, and a little touch of hidden vulnerability. Amazing. I don't know how she does those incredible actings. Winona Ryder also does a good job. I can see how confuse she is with her life. And she really looks like the real young Susanna Kaysen. This role is really perfect for her. Oh, in the opening, Sussana narrates this line: "Or stolen something when you have the cash." You know, it really brought back the memory of what has been done by Winona. No offense to Winona, but it just occurred to me. I couldn't resist it.

SnoopyStyle Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder) ODs on aspirins and family friend Dr. Crumble convinces her to go to Claymoore Hospital. She's struggling to find herself as a writer and had a fling with her parents' married colleague. She's the only one in her '67 class not to go to college. She insists that she's didn't attempt suicide. Her roommate Georgina Tuskin (Clea DuVall) is a compulsive liar. Sweet Torch Clark (Elisabeth Moss) has burns on her face. Daisy Randone (Brittany Murphy) has food and daddy issues. The police returns escapee Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie) who is a whirlwind rebellious personality. Soon, Susanna realizes that this is not simply for a short rest. Her boyfriend Tobias Jacobs (Jared Leto) gets drafted. Valerie (Whoopi Goldberg) is the wise nurse in charge. Dr. Melvin Potts (Jeffrey Tambor) declares Susanna has borderline personality disorder. Dr. Wick (Vanessa Redgrave) takes over her case with some big insights.Nurse Valerie calls Susanna "a lazy, self-indulgent little girl who is driving herself crazy." I disagree on the lazy part because she's trying very hard. However, much of the movie feels indulgent to me. Valerie tells Susanna that she's not really sick. The big surprise of the movie is that the mental hospital and its staff are not evil. They are mostly reasonable. Potts comes off a little clueless but Susanna is really just rebelling against her uptight parents and fighting against herself. That's not to say that this is an useless exercise. There are some good performances from the actresses. There is one great section with Ryder watching Jolie throw verbal bombs at Murphy. To me, that's the most impressive section of the movie. The final confrontation is a bit melodramatic. The movie should have wrapped up soon after the Jolie Murphy confrontations.

Harry Waterman The angsty memoir by Susanna Kaysen that poses the argument of whether or not radicalisation of a youngster's psyche could be symptoms of mental illness and the battle between illness and indifference. The memoir reads of the stay a young woman had at the same mental hospital that cared for Sylvia Plath and how she questions everything about herself, her life and her planet. Girl, Interrupted (the motion-picture) waters down a heck of a lot of the plot and replaces it with fictionalised and heavily dramatised events completely absent from the real story, however it benefits from an all-star cast and impressive performances from Angelina Jolie and the late Brittany Murphy.