Prozac Nation
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: B-
Christina Ricci is author Elizabeth Wurtzel in Prozac
Nation (2001), a decent drama from the director of the original Insomnia
(1997, available from Criterion), Erik Skjoldbjaerg. This was his first film since that international hit, which
chronicles Lizzie as she earns a scholarship to Harvard, begins a promising
Rock press career, and thinks of a better future, only to have her own personal
demons and that of her dysfunctional family come pouring out in a tidal wave of
anger, self-destruction and addiction.
Ricci has been doing everything in her power not to sell
out to shallow commercial fare and in Lizzie lands one her best roles and pulls
off one of her best performances to date.
If you thought she was just taking anything to keep a low profile with
no point, you will be impressed as to how she pulls off this role. The amazing thing is, no matter how bad
things are or she gets, you have sympathy for her because Ricci does a great job
of constantly showing us why she is who she is and keeps a deep hold on the
situation throughout. This is an
overlooked performance for sure.
Playing her mother, only an actress as great as Jessica
Lange would do, nearly getting out-acted by Ricci, something few actors could
even dream of when Lange is in prime form as she is here. Instead of clichés and histrionics, we get a
wide-ranging conflict that is so real that it is palpable. Jason Biggs, reuniting with Ricci two years
later in Woody Allen’s Anything Else, plays the most complex character
of his career (easily) to date as a young man hiding his own family
dysfunction. Michelle William and John
Rhys-Meyers also star, plus Lou Reed makes a performance cameo.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is not bad, if
not always absolutely clear and detailed, with Skjoldbjaerg once again teaming
with his Insomnia cinematographer Erling Thurmann-Andersen. Though not as dark as their debut thriller,
there is a sense of visual darkness throughout that is not clichéd or
overstated. As compared to Criterion’s Insomnia
transfer, this does not have some of the breakup of that 1999 DVD, but the
color is not always as rich either. The
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not bad, with hit records and Nathan Larson’s score
meshing well enough. This is a
dialogue-based film and the recording is pretty clean and clear. A DTS version may have offered more impact,
though. The only extra is the episode
of Anatomy Of A Scene featuring one of the key moments between Ricci and
Lange that should be seen after you see the film. The only problem with the film is it simply cannot avoid certain
archetypes of this situation from so many previous film and TV dramas, but Prozac
Nation has enough moments, points and fine performances to make it worth
your time.
- Nicholas Sheffo
