The People's Review of Girl, Interrupted
Jim
score = 100
comments = Great study of the inner depths of one's brain. Makes you aware
of those people who are locked up out of sight as a solution...not to
their problems but to the problems they create for those actually throwing
them into 'care'. Great acting...particularly Angelina. Winona is great as
ever. Brilliant soundtrack too particularly the 'Glass Orchestra' music
that was so creative yet uncanny! This movie got me wondering what is so
different between those with mental problems and us. At times it feels
like they've got the wrong people locked up. Actually...I'd go so far as
to say that although most of them had issues...they were no different to
anyone else. We all have our issues..its just how we deal with them that
might make us appear as being crazy. But then again...who is to decide
what or who is crazy. If you have not seen this movie...its a must!! Take
care of yourselves - Jim Zammit
Erin
score = 90
This movie was brutally honest about all the feelings and situations in
life that people try to pretend do not exist.
mina
score = 100
Girl, Interrupted is my favorite movie because it allows the viewer to
visit somewhere deep inside themselves that is rarely expressed. It allows
one to question their own sanity and reaches a darker more personal view
of life, but brings in a darkly comical view point.
Unknown25
score = 100
Since i saw this movie it has been my favorite. Angelina Jolie portrayed
the part of Lisa to a "T". She is a great actress and this movie
is the best I have seen in along time! I was more sad about it when I
found out it was a true story:(
Keane
score = 100
1000!!! You din'nt have a high enough number so I had to change it.
Angelina is a beautiful soul!!! We will all remember her in 100 years as
though it were today!! Film criticism is 100% opinion, and coming from
Chicago,,, yes we had those two guys!!,, I don't really care what critics
have to say. Girl Interrupted is a masterpiece that James Mangold should
be very proud of. All actors involved were great. All of them!! This movie
has inspired me to finish my own art DV. This movie was not only
visually beautiful,but well written,and very well acted by the ladies.
Mangold's ability to film the incredible nuances of Angie's emotions
enraptured me. I love this movie like "East of Eden". If anyone
wants to see the start of genius... rent the movie "Hacker's"
and watch Angie go!!! Let's all wish her lot's of luck with Billy Bob.
Bye!
Sara
score = 100
Awesome movie - a must see! If you have ever battled with depression,
see this movie!
Jo
score = 100
This was a really good movie that a lot of people can relate to, but maybe
not admit. It made me think, what determines a person's sanity (or
insanity)? A good movie, a well written book, and an awesome
soundtrack :)
Maytag
score = 100
This was a hilarious and heart piercing film. Great performances from Ryder,
Jolie and the rest. Ryder is a particular surprise - excellent subtle
masterful and moving. A great old fashioned film but at the same time, quite
modern.
Julia
score = 70
This movie definitely delves into the relativity of the word sanity. It was
intriguing to view the way a girl of impressionable years could be
manipulated into a care-less and egotistical institutional system, believing
herself to fit in with the girls who lived there. Where were the girls
parents throughout the process of her recovery? They were shown to be
so "barely involved" that it's no wonder she so enjoyed the
sisterly companionship of the mental institution. The Nurse hit it right on
the head when she said,"your a lazy, self-indulgent little girl".
I think perhaps it took the shock of seeing what mental illness really is
about to bring Susanna to the realization that she doesn't want to go there
after all. A great movie that I would watch again.
Chris
score = 80
A wonderfully done film even if their hair never changed. Acting was
superb. One thing that bothered me was that the movie suggests that
all we have to do to improve our mental problems is want to get better.
Medicines and such don't help, you just have to want to improve and you'll
be better. Abnormal psych is often seen with physiological problems,
the last thing I am going to do is tell an asmatic (sp) not to use their
inhaler, just to try harder not to get an attack.
Michelle
score = 100
comments = This movie was excellent. Yes, to those who think it is
depressing, you are right. That is the whole point. Life can be
depressing, but to overcome life one must overcome themselves.
Winona's character didn't think there was anything wrong with her.
Everyone else was crazy. The mental institution was Hell, and she
didn't deserve to be there. All the employees there knew how to mess
them (the patients) up even more, and therefore they were stuck there for
their parents money to be sucked out of their pockets by the bloodsucking
psychiatrists. Yes, this is very true for many mental institutions,
but what she learned from Valerie is that if you want to succeed, you must
play a game. Work the system. It was the only way to survive the
place, and the only way to get out. She allowed Lisa(Jolie) to
manipulate her and feed on her fear of her. She had to learn how to
overcome her, by using Lisa's own techniques to hurt others against her.
The way Lisa manipulated others was by telling them everything that was
wrong with them, and she was very good. Very smart. She was in
the hospital because she was her own prisoner, as all the women in the
hospital. All of us build up our own walls, whether it be something we
think we can't do, or not knowing what option to choose, etc... Winona
believed she was normal, but she soon came to find out she really did have
serious problems, she was not crazy...none of them were...they had very deep
inner struggles that no one else can understand unless they've been through
it. They are intelligent people who are just scared for whatever
reasons that effected them earlier in life. Most of the girls did
learn to work the system by exchanging meds, going down to go bowling,
breaking in and reading their files, and denying them. They learned to
help others like when they sang "Downtown." These are not
crazy qualities. Most people in real life institutions are not crazy.
Only the ones who are cold, stone cold, who are completely beyond overcoming
themselv! es. Serial killers. The movie also portrays all the
hardships women in the 60's had to endure. Melvin would rape some of
them, Daisy being his love. He only hurt her and caused more damage to
her mind. All the factors in her life lead up to the final climax, her
committing suicide. She was weak because she couldn't overcome her
problems, people around her would weaken her more and more, the more they
hurt her. The last straw was Lisa. Lisa figured out everything.
Yes Ms. Rose Preston, it is a sad movie, and it does make one have sympathy,
but you have failed to look deeper into it. This movie wasn't about
the "devastation we feel when the demons of darkness dwell in us "
and it wasn't created to influence others to have compassion. Open
your mind, get past the shallow water, get a little deeper (I'm talking to
everyone who reads this far :) ) there are so many messages hidden in this
movie even I can't catch them all. I know it goes deeper than whatever
I have mentioned, but I am able to see the underlying message, I do not
consider it a movie that, in Ms. Preston's view, "fails to stir."
For it has stirred me more than most movies I have ever seen. It ranks
with Braveheart, and What Dreams May Come, and Amistad. I know that
the movie made reference to "the world" and its coldness and how
it is better to be in the world than destroying oneself and spending time
with those doing the same. I will have to see the movie again to get
more of an understanding and catch the deeper meanings hidden in the script.
This movie shows that mental patients arent crazy, they just can't overcome
themselves. It shows the struggles of life but how Susanna overcomes
herself, Lisa, and the system. She had to overcome herself first.
It is about all the struggles and depressions in life, but most importantly
it is about overcoming them, and helping others do the same. Ending up
on top. Looking past the veils. Uncovering mysteries. I ask
everyone to open their minds and hearts to everyone, and anything that may
seem crazy, or weird, or strange, etc. You may find it with a much
deeper meaning. The reason most people cant understand this is because
of their own inner struggles and shallow thoughts. Use this movie to
inspire yourself to overcome your own inner struggles, because we all have
them, if we deny them we are just like the girls in the mental institution.
Maybe we all are anyway, their struggles are just much deeper cuts than our
own. Much deeper.
Andy
score = 70
In regards to many of the above comments, some mental patients really are
crazy. Sure, some aren't and are institutionalized for the wrong
reasons, but most are there because they need help. To succeed, they
do need to want to get better, but that isn't enough. The solution may
be psychotherapy or medication or often both depending on the situation.
Borderline personality disorder is a pervasive illness that can never be
cured. One can learn to function in the world, but they will never be
over it just as someone with mental retardation will never get over it.
I thought the movie was rather shallow with stabs at depth, but failed to
have a true understanding of human nature and an even worse understanding of
basic abnormal psychology.
Ksenija
score = 90
It seems thet hollywood is running out of ideas.Every other film is based on
a book.Nevertheless this is an excellent movie.
Aimee
score = 90
I thought the movie was very interesting for the reason I know how it feels.
I think the movie is definetly worth seeing.
Samantha Curtis
score = 100
Girl Interrupted is the best movie that I have ever seen. Angelina
Jolie's performance was also the best that I have seen in my life. She
is a great actress and I think she deserves more credit. I can't wait
till June 6th when the video comes out.
Eva
score = 100
Girl, interrupted is was one of the best movies that I have ever seen.
Before seeing this film I didnīt know that Winona Ryder is such an
excellent actress!Angelina Jolie is also great.The theme of the film is also
very good because few films tell about things like mental illness.
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Kaysen's prescribed "short rest" from a
psychiatrist she had met only once becomes a strange, unknown journey into Alice's
Wonderland, where she spends nearly a year on the ward both flirting and struggling with
the thin line between normal and crazy. Kaysen soon realizes how hard it is to get out
once she's been committed, and she ultimately has to choose between the world of people
who belong on the inside-like the seductive and dangerous Lisa (Jolie)-or the often
difficult world of reality on the outside. -- Đ 1999 Columbia Tristar Interactive 
