Tanya’s Score: Good-and-a-half*
Rated: 14A
Starring: Winona, Angelina, Whoopi
Plot: Based on Susanna Kaysen’s memoir of her year spent in a mental institution during the 1960s.
Tanya’s Verdict: When it comes to Girl, Interrupted, one can’t help but draw certain comparisons to the 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – as both films take place in a mental institution, both focus on the relationships between fellow patients and both are compelling and poignant in their own ways.
Girl, Interrupted differs, as throughout the movie a variety of specific occurrences from the 1960s time frame turn up within the storyline (the Vietnam draft, the death of Martin Luther King Jr. etc.) And because the film focusses on women, the storyline touches upon the discrepancy and downright hypocrisy between labelled mental health issues between women and men.
The chemistry between the main characters makes for a compelling watch. As does the intense and often unpredictable storyline. Both my daughters were fascinated by the unfolding events – as was I even though this was my second time around.
*Four score descriptions: Sh**; Okay; Good; Great