Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Girl, Interrupted (1999) - Girls with mental problems explored in compassionate, strong film

1/20/2021

Girl, Interrupted (1999) - Girls with mental problems explored in compassionate, strong film

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Period Movie of the Year

Co-star Winona Ryder's wide-eyed face makes up this poster for James Mangold's Girl, Interrupted

A college-age girl from a nice middle-class family suffers a mental breakdown and gets sent to a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt. Here she finds other disturbed girls ... - and herself.

Girl, Interrupted is written by Lisa Loomer (Room for Two (1992, TV-series)), Anna Hamilton Phelan (Mask (1985)) and New-Yorker master filmmaker, co-writer/director James Mangold (Heavy (1995)), whose 3rd film it is. It adapts the autobiographical, same-titled 1993 book by Susanna Kaysen (Cambridge (2014)).

It is an outstanding, assured and subdued, compassionate piece of storytelling that delivers with a wealth of good forces: Winona Ryder (Mr. Deeds (2002)), - who also co-produced the film, - Angelina Jolie (Shark Tale (2004)), Brittany Murphy (Don't Say a Word (2001)), Elisabeth Moss (Darling Companion (2012)), Whoopi Goldberg (Top Five (2014)) and Vanessa Redgrave (Miral (2010)) as the smart and wise doctor.

Girl, Interrupted is moving and, despite the darkness it probes, ultimately uplifting, dealing with important issues. It is a commendable work for all involved.

Related posts:

James Mangold: The day after the day after ... the 2018 Oscars

Oscars 2018: Predictions and Film Excess' favorites

The Greatest Showman (2017) - Brace for an infectious musical show (executive producer/director (reshoots))

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

The Wolverine (2013) - Many good elements in Mangold's Japan-set superhero adventure actioner
Knight and Day (2010) - Diaz and Cruise invigorate Mangold's action romance

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Cop Land (1997) - Stallone faces corruption and turns in some good acting in fine crime drama

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 48.3 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.20 times its cost)

[Girl, Interrupted premiered 8 December (USA) and runs 127 minutes. The film spent 5 years in development hell, before production commenced. Jolie was paid 200k $ for her performance. Shooting took place from January - April 1999 in Pennsylvania. The film opened #37 to a 95k $ first weekend in 9 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #4, behind new release Next Friday and holdover hits Stuart Little and The Hurricane, spending one more week in the top 5 (#4) and grossing 28.9 mil. $ (59.8 % of the total gross). The film was nominated for an Oscar, which it won: Best Supporting Actress (Jolie). It also won a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches lower than this one. Mangold returned with Kate & Leopold (2001). Ryder returned in Autumn in New York (2000); Jolie in Gone in 60 Seconds (2000). Girl, Interrupted is rotten at 53 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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1/20/2021

Girl, Interrupted (1999) - Girls with mental problems explored in compassionate, strong film

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