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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
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GIRL INTERRUPTED

"Girl, Interrupted," a coming-of-age- troubled tale, has been called a female "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." It isn't, quite. According to reviews, however, it manages to hold its own on its own merits.
After downing a bottle of aspirin and chasing it with a bottle of vodka, 17-year-old Susanna Kaysen, (Winona Ryder), is taken by her parents to a psychiatrist. This would seem logical. The doctor diagnoses Susanna as having a borderline personality disorder, and she is banished to Claymoore, a "renowned New England private psychiatric hospital," thus, "Cuckoo's Nest."
But here the similarity stops. The ward nurse, Valerie, (Whoopi Goldberg), is no-nonsense, but no Nurse Racthed. The hospital, in fact, seems more like Oz, the more the disturbed, but not all that disturbed, teenager looks at her new surroundings.
Claymoore has some "really crazy"girls, who, of course, soon become Susanna's close friends. First of all, there is Lisa, ( Angelina Jolie), a charming sociopath, and head troublemaker, and, among others, Daisy, (Brittany Murphy), "a pampered girl with a predilection for rotisserie chicken." (What? It would be worth the admission, alone, to figure out what that means.)
Susanna is immediately taken in by Lisa's beguiling ways, and strives to imitate her, which does nothing to spring her from Claymoore, but Susanna doesn't care, at first. The movie explores the relationships between the girls, and, one would think, focuses on co-dependency.
As Susanna begins to see herself in a new light, with the help of the hospital's head psychiatrist, Dr. Wick, (Vanessa Redgrave), she gradually makes a decision to leave "Oz," and, like Dorothy, go home. Claymoore ain't Kansas.
The complex relationship between Lisa and Susanna reaches a climax, as . . . oh well, that would be telling too much. The movie has assembled a remarkable female cast. Angelia Jolie's "Lisa" won the Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress.
The film is directed by James Mangold, and written by Mangold and Susanna Kaysen, based on her true story.
It is rated R for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality and suicide.
It starts Thursday at Market Square East.

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