DVD Review: Prozac Nation

By Patrick Luce Jul 3, 2005, 15:27 GMT

The movie is based on the autobiography “Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America: A Memoir" written by Elizabeth Wurtzel, and chronicles her first year at Harvard.

The film also shows how Wurtzel falls into an endless spiral of drugs, self-destructive behavior, and depression that almost consumes her life and ruins her writing career.

Ricci, who plays Wurtzel, does an excellent job in the role, and seems to have really dedicated herself to the part. She was a co-producer for the film, and really does a great job at being the central character in the movie.

From the start of the film, we know that there is something wrong with Wurtzel, but still watch as she continues to fall. Ricci does this brilliantly through facial expressions, rage, and sadness.

The movie also features a brilliant performance from Jessica Lange as Wurtzel’s mother. Lange comes off as an overbearing mother, but one that wants her daughter to truly succeed.

Lange doesn’t think twice at the sacrifices she makes for her daughter, but also seems blind to how her behavior smothers Ricci. The two are great on screen together, and the relationship seems real.

Ricci shows the downward spiral of Elizabeth Wurtzel

Skjoldbjaerg does a great job in directing the movie and using little techniques, such as letting the film get out of focus, to help us feel the way Ricci may be seeing the world.

The director also uses the movie’s soundtrack, such as the music of Lou Reed, to further show how the characters are feeling in certain scenes.

If the movie has a flaw, it is in the overall pace of the story and the fact that it does loose focus about halfway toward the end. From the start, you know Ricci’s character has a problem and you know it will be the focus of the film.

The film just takes too long for the movie to start dealing with the different things in Wurtzel’s life and you find yourself wondering when the main plot is going to start.

The movie is about Wurtzel’s life and her problems, but those problems aren’t so large that other people don’t face them as well. She is depressed, drinks too much and does way too many drugs. This behavior results in her spinning her life out of control, but it is nothing new and nothing that hundreds of people don’t face day to day.

Her character’s triumph over her troubles, or at least the ability to deal with them, brings home a good message at the end, but takes a long time to get there.

Ricci and Lange are great as mother and daughter

Also, the amount of screaming and crying in the film gets a bit old by the ending, and Ricci does start to come off as annoying. Her character is supposed to be a basket case, but it starts to feel forced towards the end of the picture.<!--page-->

Prozac Nation Main Menu

The DVD is light on special features consisting only of “Anatomy of a Scene” that takes a look at how one of the confrontations between Lange and Ricci were filmed. While this is an interesting special feature, it is a little light for a movie with such a heavy subject.

Prozac Nation is a powerful movie about the problems people face every day in the world. Ricci and the rest of the cast deliver powerful performances, and the movie does an excellent job of showing the levels of depression and self-destruction.

Prozac Nation is available for pre-order at Amazon for a July 5 release. As of yet, there is no release date for the UK. Visit the film’s database for more information.