Sometimes I wonder if filmmakers ever realize that what they want us to feel doesn’t always happen the way they expect. Girl, Interrupted is a perfect example of what happens when emotional expectations go awry. Sure, the real-life story of a troubled teen set in a 1967 mental home is enticing, but when the story is put into action on the big screen, it falls flat on its face.
Winona Ryder plays Susanna Kaysen, a lost teen toying with the idea of suicide and struggling with her identity. After chasing a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka, she is urgently placed in the hands of competent doctors. There, her psyche is dissected as the road to self-discovery, and a two-hour headache, begins.
It’s not that I’m opposed to moral dramas, but when the lead character offers nothing more than wide-eyed blank stares and a monotone voice, it’s tough to lend any emotion her way. Her superficial portrayal of depression warrants about as much sympathy from me as a wealthy politician with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Also, her incessant use of the “F” bomb makes her out to be more of a spectacle than a girl in turmoil. Perhaps it’s Ryder’s radiating innocence, simply stated: foul language does not become her, nor is it believable when dropping from those pouty lips.
Don’t get me wrong, Girl, Interrupted has its moments. Angelina Jolie ( The Bone Collector) is delightfully feisty as the rebellious sociopath, Lisa. And Brittany Murphy (Clueless) is quite intriguing in the role of Daisy, a reclusive daddy’s girl obsessed with chicken bones and laxatives. Without these resident wackos for back-up, Girl, Interrupted would be your typical, slaphappy, learn a few things about life, coming-of-age relationship drama set in the perfect time period for all of these elements – the ’60s. It’s these dynamic young actresses who breathe believability into a dead-end script. They provoke thought about some serious issues that would have been much more interesting topics for exploration and explanation than Susana Kayson’s borderline personality disorder, which, by the way, can easily be translated into a simple diagnosis of teenage angst in a time social confusion.
Girl, Interrupted does provide a few laughs, along with some hard-hitting bouts of reality, but it’s not enough to save it. I’m sure Director James Mangold (Copland) had planned to create an inspiring film about the trials and turbulence that were active in the mind of one confused girl. Regardless of the plan, it sounds much better on paper.
+ Ashley Adams
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