Good Cast In A Very Average Movie

Rating: 5/10 (9 March 2001)

Winona Ryder stars as Susanna Kaysen in this movie adapted from the real Kaysen's book about her stay in a psychiatric hospital in the late 1960's after a suicide attempt.
Ryder puts on a generally good performance, but is outshone by Angelina Jolie, playing Lisa, Kaysen's sometimes friend and sometimes tormenter. Jolie's performance was powerful. Most of the supporting cast (who generally play the parts of other residents) is solid, but tend to fade into the background for the most part behind Ryder and Jolie. I thought Whoopi Goldberg was strangely cast in a rather limited role as the head nurse of the institution, who consistently challenges Kaysen to get better and get out of the place.
In spite of the generally good performances, though, the story was a bit slow-moving. There were some very powerful scenes, but we seem to have to endure long stretches of relative boredom to get to them. The plodding storyline does move, however, to a strong climax. We just have to wait far too long to get there! Overall, I can't say this is any better than a very average movie, and I would rate it as a 5/10.