Tap into the Psychological

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2005)

This so happens to be my favorite movie. The acting is remarkable. Angelina Jolie is definitely worthwhile, and Oscar worthy.
As far as technical film processes go, this is an excellent film. Even if you hate the film's story, you have to give it credit for it's acting and directing. James Mangold is highly underrated, and props to Winona Ryder for finding him. I doubt anyone could have made a better piece of art. The transitions between scenes where Susanna fades between reality and something else is remarkable and clever. There are many scenes in which Winona and Angelina have absolute chemistry. I know that this word is usually used in romantic situations in film, but here it is used because you can feel the relationship that Susanna and Lisa have. And there are three distinct relationships the two have as the movie goes on: fascination, admiration, and hatred. With every scene that the two are in together you get chills in the way they react (and it's not just because Angelina does such a remarkable job as someone who is terrifying). Not to discredit Winona's job. In the director's cut James Mangold talks about Winona being a "silent actress." This is very present in this film. She is so powerful even when she is not talking. Her facial expressions are so in tune and seem to put the view right inside her head. But although these two dominate the movie, and are very good, other actresses should be acknowledged too. Brittany Murphy is very impressive as well as Whoppi (as always).
What seems, to me, though, to be most critical in wondering whether to pick this one up at Blockbuster or not is this: if the mentally ill scare you, this film will probably weird you out and you won't like it at all. What is most important about this film is it's relatablility. One can easily relate to the Winona Ryder character, especially if your teenage years were full of angst and indecisiveness. People who, remarkably, believe they have a grasp of life, and understand it in full will not want to see this movie, because they will get frustrated with how deep Susanna involves herself in pointless matters. I, on the other hand, and those who like this film, will find that Susanna is looking for the answers to questions we face everyday.
That having been said (I assume all those who don't want to involve themselves in a psychological downer have stopped reading), I can move on to discuss the wide variety of philosophical questions this movie delves into. I know a lot of teenage girls relate with Susanna. This character, for them, IS them. And the questions Susanna asks throughout the movie (Am I really crazy?, What is it to be normal?) are ones those girls ask continually. Who am I? is a question people have to either spend lots of time trying to answer, deny that it exists, or leave it alone. This film is to help focus on what it really is to be sane, human, and undeniably something.
There is a line in which Whoppi Goldberg says, "You are not crazy! You're a lazy, self- indulgent, little girl who is driving herself crazy!" Anyone who knows what this statement means will enjoy this film.
I feel there does need to be a paragraph dedicated to Angelina Jolie's performance. Although she is an idol because of her beauty and the tabloids love her, Angelina does not get enough credit for her acting. I don't believe for a second that any other actress in Hollywood could pull off such a performance. Angelina really becomes Lisa, and is very scary, yet likable in this regard. She has been compared to Jack Nicholson, with very good reason. There is not another female counterpart that could have pulled such a profound display. Every scene she is in you know of her presence, and her body movement, eye contact, facial expressions, voice influxtions everything are so precise and perfect that one cannot help but give her performance an A+.