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Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Elisabeth Moss ... see more see more... , Jared Leto , Jeffrey Tambor , Vanessa Redgrave , Whoopi Goldberg , Mary Kay Place , Jillian Armenante , Angela Bettis , Drucie McDaniel , Joanna Kerns , Travis Fine , Kurtwood Smith

In 1967, 19-year-old Susanna (Winona Ryder) feels that "reality is becoming too dense" and is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. The doctor suggests to her parents that she be committed t... read more read more...o the Claymore Hospital, and she spends the next 18 months struggling with her troubled psyche and the bizarre world of the institution. Susanna bonds with several other patients, including Lisa (Angelina Jolie), Polly (Elizabeth Moss), and Georgina (Clea DuVall). As she realizes that Lisa is potentially dangerous and truly needs help, Susanna begins to work harder with her psychiatrist (Vanessa Redgrave) and the nurse on the ward (Whoopi Goldberg). But Susanna soon learns that getting out of the hospital is not as easy as getting in. Girl, Interrupted was based on the autobiography of Susanna Kaysen, who really did spend a year-and-a-half in the McLean Psychiatric Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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83% liked it

219,401 ratings

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54% liked it

112 critics

R, 2 hr. 7 min.

Directed by: James Mangold

Release Date: December 21, 1999

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DVD Release Date: October 30, 2001

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Stats: 10,478 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (10,478)

  • garyX
    February 14, 2013
    garyX
    Based on the autobiographical novel by Susanna Kayson chronicling her time spent in a mental institution following a suicide attempt, Girl, Interrupted is not quite what you'd expect; namely "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest For Chicks". It's true that the story is dominated by Jo... read morelie's Oscar winning turn as the rebelliously anti-social yet charismatic Lisa, but the story is a lot more sympathetic towards the staff of the hospital and what they were trying to do. The cast of likeable weirdos make for an engaging bunch of misfits which makes up for the fact that it lacks any real kind of power or emotional resonance and it's nicely non-judgemental when it comes to the depiction of both the inmates and the staff who are genuinely trying to help them. Hardly the most challenging portrait of mental illness but enjoyable none the less.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    April 19, 2012
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy

    Good Film! It was a very well made film with some terrific acting. Angelina Jolie in probably her best role as an actress won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in that year. Good plot although a little too slow f... read moreor my taste but decent enough.

    Susanna is depressed and directionless after finishing high school in the late 1960's. A suicide attempt lands her in Claymore, a mental institution. She befriends the band of troubled women in her ward (Georgina the pathological liar, the sexually abused Daisy, the burn victim Polly) but falls under the hypnotic sway of Lisa, the wildest and most hardened of the bunch. Will Susanna "drop anchor" at Claymore and perpetually act out like Lisa, or will she finally pull her mind together and leave institutional life behind?
  • jamers2011
    March 31, 2012
    jamers2011
    Surprised by the low critic ratings. I for one thought this was a really good film. Solid story, good characters, and wonderful performances from Ryder and Jolie who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. I recommend it!
  • sanjurosamurai
    August 16, 2011
    sanjurosamurai
    the film was great until the very rocky ending, and the acting was solid with a compelling story. the film suffers from poor rewatchability, but its a solid view and worth watching jolie's oscar turn.
  • dietmountaindew
    July 28, 2011
    dietmountaindew
    it's been cliche to note that "girl, interrupted" is the female version of "one flew over the cuckoo's nest" (starriing jack nicholson in 1975, adapted from ken kesy's countercultural classic in the sixties) or compare angelina jolie as the female jack nicholson (letting alone th... read moree facts she has been impeccably beautiful, glaringly rebellious, luringly frail, brilliantly talented at the early age of 24 when this film was made.)...also, it is no fresh news that the whole female crew in this pictures are all lesbians (except winona ryder and brittany murphy, i think), literally a house of sapphos!

    let's tackle into the parallels between girl, interrupted and one flew over the cuckoo's nest. the analogous facts are, both novels were about the countercultural sixties (except susanna kaysen only published this memoir in 1993. but kesey's work had roused the waves of youth-identification at its time). both stories are about people who got forcily trapped in the nut house and desperate to break free of THE SYSTEM, and the camaderie between the patients in the process of fighting off the evil system. in a short, the major difference between these two works is about the separate ways man and woman choose to adapt in the course of their rebellions, let's say in a professional terms, the diverse forms of male and female transgressions, which furtherly prove the futility of women's countercultural revolts.

    to begin with, let's look into the sketch of one flew over the cuckoo's nest, whose main spirit is to defy the system represented by the psycho-bitch big nurse.both the novel and the movie emphasize upon the protagonist's individualistic backbone through his reckless laughter. we witness a man who falsifies insanity to escape the justice of law, a man who doesn't give a damn to the instuitions of law or medical system, a man who shows his contempts toward the system: he, a sane invidual, could get away from the law by faking insanity successfully, and such action proves the invalidity of mental health instituition. also, he could manage to flee off the nut-house if he doesn't choose to stay there to choke the big-nurse just to avenge his pal, whose last trace of manhood gets devastated by this mighty evil bitch! for this, he gets lobotomized!

    as for girl, interrupted, susanna kaysen was really suffering from mental illness, and she chose to follow the will of her parents to sign herself in. she penned diaries criticizing her inmates till she met the volcanic lisa who led her into a series acts of delinquency. the worst things these girls did were just drugging the janitor to steal musical instrument to sing songs to console a girl with disfigured face. despite everyone was so enchanted, in the mean time intimidated by the wild lisa, susanna kept her distance, remaining her detachment from her so-called "good friend". women just hurt each other. lisa humuliated the laxative-addict daisy who sadly hanged herself after the insult. susanna also wounded lisa by announcing "she's already dead on the inside" so she could tear lisa's sharp ego apart then beat her up in the last moment.(retribution, retribution, women are simply mean to each other.)

    women, on the contrary, demonstrated their attachment to the system. susanna chose to sign herself in; lisa needed the system to break free and get herself locked off again and again just for some kicks; daisy used it as a middle ground to sustain her abnormal relationship with her father. women, in this case, were no genuine rebels, but lost girls who needed some rebellious excuses to justify their own actions, which had really nothing to do with the countercultural temperament of nineteen sixties, but private chamber-room affairs accelerated by the glossy idea of free love. beside that, there's no really big enemy like cuckoo's big nurse to fight against, and what they fight against is just their jealousy toward each other. (constantly one girl is sour when the other girl gets released from the mental hospital)..in the end, susanna kaysen has to play the goody-goody to get herself released from this nut-house. my question is: what made her consider herself superior to other mentally disordered girls while herself was also an inmate? and why she didn't release this memoir until the 90s? afraid to offend those who used to stay in the same room with her? she's the biggest hypocrite to me! she wrote this memoir and got it published to assert she was a woman with individuality, who lived through this unusual circumstance of life, but wouldn't her case just prove that women prefer to be dominated, lectured, tamed and docilized, and they're not individuals but naughty girls who need some spankings from the big daddy to behave themselves???

    taken all together, one flew over the cuckoo's nest is a case of men united together to fight against the vile system, which is embodiment through a misogynistic figure: the big nurse; girl, interrupted is an example of women jeopardizing each other, using up each means, even cooperating with the system to hurt their foes, fellow women. (men here are the lucky bystanders who get many gratuitous laids) quite often, i wonder why counterculture wouldn't work on women. here is a perfect case. women involved in countercultural movements were usually countercultural men's sex slaves, whom the men ditched after sex, and "brilliant woman with the capacity to appreciate the genius man" is just a vacant honor to justify such gender exploitation. what did those women do then? fuck-bodies who occasionally talked politics and culture with the men when they were not too loaded on booze and weeds.
  • murphmann93
    June 23, 2011
    murphmann93
    Found this fim exceptional. Angelina Jolie and Wiona Ryder were amazing actresses and it's a must watch!
  • erika250
    May 27, 2011
    erika250
    Girl interrupted is about a women stay in a mental hospital. At first she makes friends with the wrong group of women and she also rebels. She does not see away out of the mental illness. She kept on going down that path until she gets a reality check. Will she stay in mental ho... read morespital forever or would she be able to go home.
    Pros
    Good acting and plot
    Really moving film
    It really shows what mental illness can do to u and what it is like in a mental hospital.
    This film is a real eye opener on mental illness.
    If u like a good drama u should give this a try
  • fernandorafael
    February 21, 2011
    fernandorafael
    Although it boasts a killer script, adapted from the memoir by Susanna Kaysen, Girl, Interrupted's iconic female cast is what makes this film so riveting. Winona Ryder as Kaysen, Angelina Jolie in her scene-stealing (and Oscar-winning ) role of Lisa, Brittany Murphy (a humongous... read more talent we lost recently), Clea DuVall, Elisabeth Moss, Whoopi Goldberg: all deliver excellent performances and originate a very interesting dynamic between them. Jared Leto is solid as the only male element among the cast worth mentioning. Veers a little toward melodrama in the end, but it's still a classic.
  • fb619846742
    January 12, 2011
    fb619846742
    A mostly by the book depiction of an insane asylum and those that reside in it, namely a suicidal recent high school graduate (Winona Ryder) and an unpredictable, power-hungry manipulator (Angelina Jolie). The only thing that elevates this thing above standard Lifetime melodrama ... read moreis Jolie's Oscar-winning performance, which is indeed special and causes the viewer to be more inclined to watch what is going on. Although Ryder also gives a fine performance as well, this movie really starts to take a nosedive at its conclusion, which is too overloaded with drama to be taken seriously, and the result is something mildly disappointing. Think a poor man's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest" with excellent performances and pretty well-rounded characters, but an ultimately unsatisfying conclusion that could have been better captured.
  • BEACHBUNNI
    November 5, 2010
    BEACHBUNNI
    Susanna: [narrating] Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60`s. Or maybe I was just a girl.......... interrupted.
    ... read moreGirl, Interrupted has some good performances, and Angelina Jolie even throws in an Oscar caliber performance as the wild child of the mental hospital i thought she was brillant !

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Critic Reviews

Charlotte O'Sullivan
June 24, 2006
Charlotte O'Sullivan, Time Out

Does it matter that every time Jolie's offscreen the film wilts a little? Ryder should be perfect as the bright spark; her lines are sharp as a knife. There's a gap, however, between what we hear and ... Full Review

Peter Stack
June 18, 2002
Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle

A muddled production that misses the jarring tone of the autobiographical book by Susanna Kaysen on which it is based. The film is entertaining, but not very powerful. Full Review

Steven Rosen
January 1, 2000
Steven Rosen, Denver Post

If only the story of Susanna's evolution didn't keep getting interrupted by everything else. Full Review

Jeff Millar
January 1, 2000
Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle

The film generates real empathy, without too much let's-laugh -at- the -crazy- people humor or too much stereotyping. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
January 1, 2000
Emanuel Levy, Variety

Unevenly structured and directed, its sensibility only one notch above that of a Lifetime telepic. Full Review

Jay Boyar
January 1, 2000
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel

Almost everyone here seems at least a little cartoonlike.

Susan Stark
January 1, 2000
Susan Stark, Detroit News

It has neither the clarity nor strength of purpose to engage an audience much beyond the converted. Full Review

Michael Wilmington
January 1, 2000
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

Unsatisfying and unconvincing.

Joe Baltake
January 1, 2000
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

Girl, Interrupted is Mangold's singular take on the home-front movie: The way he sees it, some women also served time. Full Review

Glenn Lovell
January 1, 2000
Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News

Ample proof of both Ryder's commitment to this project and her easy dominance as above-the-title star.

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Facts

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    • Susanna Kaysen: When you don't want to feel...death can seem like a dream. But, seeing death...really seeing it, makes dreaming about it fucking ridiculous.
    • Susanna Kaysen: I'm ambivalent. In fact, that's my new favorite word.
    • Dr. Wick: Do you know what that means, ambivalence?
    • Susanna Kaysen: I don't care.
    • Lisa: Yeah, let's call Valerie shall we, and ask her for some Colace like Susie Q's got in her fuckin' hand. Why does it STINK in here?
    • Susanna Kaysen: Because you're dead already, Lisa! No one cares if you die, Lisa because you're dead already. Your heart is cold. That's why you keep coming back here. You're not free. You need this place, you need it to feel alive. It's pathetic.
    • Susanna Kaysen: Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.
    • Lisa: Razors pain you, rivers are damp, acid stains you, drugs cause cramps, guns aren't lawful, nooses give, gas smells awful, you might as well live.
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Girl, Interrupted Trivia

  • In what movie did Angelina Jolie say" Razors pain you, rivers are damp, acid stains you, drugs cause cramps, gun aren't lawful, nooses give, gas smells awful, you might as well live."   Answer »
  • Name the film in which Brittany Murphy plays a crazy girl who keeps chicken carasses under her bed.  Answer »
  • Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.   Answer »
  • Name the movie were Winona Ryder is in a mental institution battling with the thin line between normal and crazy while adapting to Angelina Jolie?s captivating character, Lisa.  Answer »
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