more than another person's story

Rating: 8/10 (14 April 2006)

I had never heard of Susanna Kaysen when "Girl, Interrupted" came out, but this movie based on her memoirs was really something. It tells the story of when she was put in a mental institution in the late '60s. Winona Ryder, whose roles sometimes seem either silly or overdone, does a very good job as Susanna, showing her as a strong-willed young woman who just couldn't seem to express herself right. Believe it or not, Angelina Jolie - looking more haggard than usual - also does a really good job in the movie. She plays Lisa Rowe, whom Susanna befriends in the institution. Lisa can gravitate between affectionate and acerbic, and is truly the bane of the establishment.
Maybe this movie on one level does show how events affected another person, but it really is more than that. It shows how the Vietnam War is affecting everyone, as Susanna's boyfriend Toby Jacobs (Jared Leto) might get sent to Vietnam. All in all, this is one of the many movies that my generation can remember fondly, just as my parents' generation fondly remembers "The Graduate". Also starring Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Jeffrey Tambor, Whoopi Goldberg and Vanessa Redgrave.