Jolie's showy performance seemed too exaggerated and hysterical to be believable, and many times I felt Winona Ryder was actually a lot better - more complex and far more dynamic. Ryder's transition from a shy, introspective young woman to a self-indulgent brat was smooth and without flaw, and it was far more engaging to watch. Hopefully, she'll soon return to making movies first and worry about money second. The video presentation of Girl, Interrupted is first-rate. Many of the scenes are saturated with natural light sources, and these come across very effectively with little noticeable edge enhancement.
Contrast is also exceptional, with no interference from color bleeding.
There is some minor scratching during the opening credits, but they pretty much disappear after that point. Black level is also especially good, with only very rare instances of compression artifacting that break up the picture. By and large, this is a nice anamorphic picture. As usual, Columbia offers their standard choice of two English tracks in either Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 surround. Both are good, but neither is expansive and enveloping.