Girl, Interrupted is about a girl named Susanna (Winona Ryder) and her experiences in a…what do you call them…a mental institution. There she befriends various other girls with various issues, one of which is a hyperactive sociopath, Lisa (Angelina Jolie). Susanna is there herself because of an attempted suicide.

The characters, in spite of all their problems, are endearing and though fairly superficially presented we quickly come to care for them. Winona Ryder is good at playing the depressed girl she has played so many times before and Angelina Jolie is especially good at playing the bossy psycho girl who befriends her. Whoopi Goldberg is also familiar as a nurse, who – for some strange reason that is reminiscent of her role in Star Trek – you know is going to end up giving some important advice.

Girl, Interrupted is constantly fascinating. Perhaps it’s because we’re trying to figure out these characters while they’re trying to figure out themselves. What I really like about Interrupted is the suggestion that there’s a reason for their problems that extends beyond some malfunction in the brain that they were born with.

At one point we hear the girls watching The Wizard of Oz on TV and Dorothy is told something along the lines of “the power to return home has always been within you.” Such becomes one of the themes of Interrupted, and a good one at that. Susanna, especially, realizes her problems are within her control and that she has the ability to make whatever she wants of herself. The one downside to the story is that we never see in much detail what it is exactly that helps her make the change – which would have been nice considering how much time was spent on the problems. The story is moving nonetheless and, I believe, a practically helpful resource as we encounter problems of our own.

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