It doesn't suck, but it gives it the old college try

Rating: 4/10 (16 June 2006)

GIRL, INTERRUPTED gets piled on the same heap as FORREST GUMP and THE English PATIENT; a movie that critics and audiences both loved, even though it is, at its very, very best, quite mediocre.
Winona Ryder is one of Hollywood's biggest mysteries. How does someone so boring and limited become such a huge star? Ryder has never delivered what I would call a good performance. She's been decent here and there, but more often that not, she's the weak link in whatever movie she's starring (e.g. LITTLE WOMEN, HEATHERS), and has occasionally just plain sucked (ALIEN Resurrection, MR. DEEDS).
Her performance in this movie falls in between those two areas. There are random moments when she's okay, but whenever she's required to show emotion or angst, her acting is disastrous.
Angelina Jolie was garnered with egregious amounts of praise for her over-the-top and quite obvious performance. She ACTS, meaning she bugs her eyes, smirks knowingly and delivers her lines with the exact same obnoxious arrogance as every other actor who's ever played a similar "rebel without a clue." She's not bad, believe me, but Oscar-worthy? No way.
And, of course, Whoopi Goldberg shows up to play yet another wise, world-weary, heart-of-gold character.
The most interesting aspects of the movie are the supporting performances. Jeffrey Tambor, usually playing comedy, is excellent as a psychiatrist who means well but is ultimately no help to anyone. Brittany Murphy plays her part remarkably well. A character who is repulsed by eating and obsessed with her bowel functions could have very easily been played for laughs, intentionally or otherwise, but Murphy instills so much pent-up sorrow and pain in the character, one can only feel sympathy for her. Clea Duvall and Angela Bettis are also excellent in small supporting roles.
Overall, GIRL, INTERRUPTED is a major misfire. It has a few poignant moments, but is more often contrived and unconvincing. Unfortunately, that describes most movies to come out of Hollywood in the last twenty years.