Girl, institutionalized

Rating: 9/10 (29 January 2008)

Winona Ryder is a "Girl, Interrupted" in this 1999 film also starring Angelina Jolie, Whoopi Goldberg, Brittany Murphy, Jeffrey Tambor, Vanessa Redgrave and Clea Duvall. Ryder is Susanna, a high school graduate from a good family who attempts suicide and is then institutionalized. The script, in fact, is based on Susanna Kaysen's real-life account of her time in a mental institution in the '60s. In denial about her condition, she observes the "crazies" around her, finally becoming friends with an 8-year resident, Lisa (Angelia Jolie) whose biting insights and bucking of authority keep the place lively and keep Susanna going. As Susanna recovers and comes face to face with a devastating tragedy, she realizes that Lisa's type of resistance is not the way to go and that she must involve herself in the therapeutic process so that she can go home.
This is a very dramatic and emotional story that I admit right up front left me sobbing. Though dark and often sad, it is a very life-affirming movie. The acting is beyond superb. Jolie, in her Oscar-winning performance, has the tour de force role, and she's magnificent. Jolie is one of those people whose once bizarre personality traits and now humanitarian efforts and relationship with Brad Pitt occasionally obliterate the fact that she's a fabulous and versatile actress. Ryder is stunning as the confused and depressed Susanna. Unfortunately, one of her first lines in the film is, "Did you ever steal something when you had the cash?" - if people did a riff on that when she was arrested for shoplifting, I missed it. She's another one whose personal peccadilloes have overshadowed some wonderful acting. These two women are surrounded by a marvelous cast of pros, including Redgrave as a patient psychiatrist, Goldberg as a tough but kind RN on the ward and Brittany Murphy as a deeply disturbed young woman. All of the women who play patients are excellent and will tear at your heart.
"Girl, Interrupted" is a brilliant film and probably an underrated one. It's possible that people who hadn't seen it when Jolie won the Oscar were put off by her strange appearance at the Oscars as well as the interviews she gave about being in love with her brother, rough sex, and her use of sharp instruments. Then Ryder had her day. I truly hope none of that kept people from renting this movie, because it - and they - are beautiful.