Plot: What’s it about?
After she graduates from high school, Susanna (Winona Ryder) finds herself out of tune with the world around her, she can’t seem to get into the rhythm of things like she used to. Her life just isn’t stable anymore, and when she mixes too many aspirins with vodka, her life will never be the same again. After she is rushed to the hospital and cared for, she is given a psychiatric evaluation, where she learns the event is being called a suicide, which she denies. In order to allow Susanna to recover her composure, the doctor sends her to Claymoore, a famous and private mental institution. When Susanna arrives at Claymoore, she discovers a varied group of other girls, some loud and boisterous, other silent and somber. She meets several interesting girls there, such a Polly, a burn victim, Georgiana, the compulsive liar, and Daisy, who suffered sexual abuse. But the girl Susanna is drawn to the most is Lisa (Angelina Jolie), who is sort of the charismatic figurehead for the girls, a sociopath who the girls really look up to. As Susanna watches these girls, she writes about them and even becomes friends with them, getting involved in the same activities as them even. Soon, Susanna finds herself feeling at home inside Claymoore, and she faces a decision, to either stay in Claymoore or pull herself together and return to the outside world.
If you judged this film by the trailer, you’d think it was aimed at one audience only, the female demographic. While I’m sure this film does hold great appeal with you ladies out there, I think is far more than a normal chick flick, that’s for sure. I can see why this would be labeled as a chick flick, but I think you should watch the film, and not judge it by the trailer, because it holds something for everyone, not just the females. This is a film with a small scope of location, but that doesn’t stop it from being powerful, to be sure. The storyline is wonderful, and even more effective than most, given its true to life nature. That’s right, there really is a Susanna and she went through the same ordeals as the lead the character, and wrote the book on which this film is based. This film is littered with complex and interesting characters, which gives the movie a feel of a wider scope, which is good. If you’re looking for a film with powerful subject matter and performances, this one will more than satisfy that need. A rental might be in order for skeptics, but with such a wonderful treatment on this disc, those who like the film are better off just buying it.
This film was directed by James Mangold, who also cowrote the screenplay, which was based on the book by Susanna Kaysen. According to the producers, they chose Mangold because he had a good grasp for the material, and I have to agree now that I’ve seen the film. What makes this directorial effort even more impressive is how inexperienced Mangold is, with less than a handful of films to his credit when he took on this film. Mangold also wrote and directed Heavy and Cop Land, both better than average flicks in their own right. The lead role in this film is played by Winona Ryder, who seems to improve with every film she work on, and this appears to be her finest work to date, at least in my opinion. Ryder (Edward Scissorhands, Little Women) has come a long way in her career, but from Beetlejuice to Mermaids to this film, she always turns in a solid effort. While Ryder had the lead role, this film often belonged to Angelina Jolie, who garnered a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in this film. Jolie (Hackers, Gia) does give a terrific performance, but she still gets pushed aside when Ryder kicks into gear. The supporting cast includes Vanessa Redgrave (Cradle Will Rock), Jared Leto (Fight Club), Whoopi Goldberg (Eddie), Brittany Murphy (Clueless, Freeway), and Elizabeth Moss (The Joyriders).
Video: How does it look?
Girl, Interrupted is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. As has become tradition with Columbia’s new releases, this visual presentation here is very high quality, in this case reference quality. The source material is pristine, without nick or blip to be found, and not even a trace of compression error can be found. The colors are natural, yet bright with no hints of bleeding, and flesh tones, no matter how pale, look natural throughout. The contrast is sharp as well, with well defined shadows and very high visible detail level. It just doesn’t get much better than this.
Audio: How does it sound?
This doesn’t seem like the type of film to have powerful audio, but you’ll be surprised how active this Dolby Digital 5.1 track is. The surrounds have ample time to turn out their magical sounds, but not always in thunderous ways, as subtle audio is also often used in this film. But some scenes do call for the big guns, and they sound awesome here, very cool stuff. The front channels aren’t lost at any times though, and dialogue comes through very well. From the loudest scream to the softest whisper, you’ll hear it all in this excellent audio track.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This isn’t labeled as a special edition, but it sure is loaded down with goodies. You’ll find some production notes on the insert booklet, and on the disc itself are talent files, as well as theatrical trailers for this film, Foxfire, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Little Women. Also included is a running audio commentary with director James Mangold, which makes for an enjoyable spin. While the track has some times of boredom, there is some good information to be found here, so make sure you give this track a whirl if you liked the film. A nice gallery of deleted scenes is also found on this release, and you can view these cut scenes with optional director’s commentary if you so choose also. I love the inclusion of commentary on these deleted scenes, as it helps give insight into why a scene was shortened or just plain removed. Rounding out the disc is an HBO First Look featurette on the film, which runs a little over thirteen minutes, and features cast and crew interviews.
