I thought PROZAC NATION was an absoluely brilliant film. The acting and story were amazing! I think it's one of the best films of the year, I hope more people like it when it comes out on dvd because a lot of people are saying it's awful and it isn't at all.

9/10 (A-)

I was so impressed by how well this film was made. Everything about it was solid. The performances were fantastic, especially Christina Ricci and Jessica Lange, who both are very Oscar worthy in their roles. Michelle Williams, and Jason Biggs are also quite good. All of the dramatic scenes involving Ricci were convincing, and I have never seen her act as brilliantly as she did in this role. It's a real shame this film didn't get much notice. To bad Miramax decided not to release it theaterically. It would of did well, and I could definitely see it winning some awards. It is a very depressing film to watch, and we witness the pitfall of Ricci's character. It's really tragic, and you just want to dive into the screen and help her character. It does have a very uplifting ending though. I definitely want to read the book after viewing this movie. All in all its a very great character study, and I thought the director did a great job of capturing all the highs and lows, and emotions all of the characters go through. Also, I thought the score, although simple, was quite effective. This is by far the best drama of the year. Where is Christina's Oscar! :mod: She is such an underrated actress. This film proves that she can do wonders when she is challenged with a role that requires alot of acting. She pulled it off wonderfully. She is even better here than in Monster. I would highly recommend this to anyone that likes Drama films, or wants to see some impressive acting.

A

Yay! I'm so happy you loved it Vince! I didn't think anyone would like it as much as me! I'M NOT YOUR GOD DAMN MONKEY! :wink:

I saw this on Starz,i didnt like it at all,the performances were weak and the story was not engaging.Atleast i got to see Ricci's tits.

Im a 22 year old heterosexual latino man,what do you expect?

Point well taken :wink:

Here's my "review." I'm not that happy with it though. It will eventually get edited after I read the book. I wish I had an editor who could fix all of my mistakes and make suggestions.


PROZAC NATION (2005)

Filmed in 2000 on a reported budget of 9 Million, surprisingly large for this kind of film, "Prozac Nation" was originally scheduled to open in limited release late fall of 2001. But close to the release date Miramax pulled it from the schedule. It was then given other release dates, only to be delayed again. Many reasons were given for the delays, including that the heroine of the film was too unlikable and that Elizabeth Wurtzel, author of the book of the same title and whose life the film is based, found the film to be horrible. I'm sure the main reason why she thought this was because the movie supposedly leaves out so much from the book and is basically just a stringing together of some of the events in the book. Many fans of the book have been disappointed in the film as well so she is not alone. After sitting on the shelf for so long "Prozac Nation" finally debuted on the Starz! channel in early 2005 (and was released on DVD at the beginning of July) due to the Weinstein brothers leaving Miramax to start their own company, and as a result all shelved movies were released in one form or another.

Having not read the book at the time I viewed the movie I was able to watch it without anything to compare it to. That's a good thing because had I read the book first and been a fan of it I'd be too pre-occupied with noticing how much from the book was left out of the movie to actually be able to watch the film as is. I would have been disappointed so much wasn't included in the movie. But I was able to view it as a movie and how well it worked on its own merits, and as a movie I found it great and to hit unbelievably close to home.

If you haven't suffered from severe depression you're likely to find this film just "interesting" at best; but for those of us who have it will be like looking into a mirror. It was scary how much I saw of myself. Not how I am now, but how I have been in the past. So many times during this film I'd scream on the inside "“THAT'S ME!" (Or WAS me anyway) This is easily the most accurate film I've ever seen on depression. In order to fully "get" this film you'll have to have suffered from severe depression. For those who haven't it isn't going to help you understand it any more than you already do. So many have found Lizzie (Christina Ricci) to be a bitch in the film and that's the reaction most people who can't relate to depression will have. Sure some of the things she does may make her look like a bitch on the outside but she honestly can't help it. When you suffer from depression you say and do these things and you don't know why. So many things are going on with you and you can't control yourself. You have mood swings and purposely push people away, people that you care about, because it's like you need to feel and you need something to be depressed about. Yet at the same time you don't want to be depressed. It's confusing and oh-so exhausting. You can be feeling good one minute and the littlest thing will set you off, making you depressed and putting you into a funk. Suicidal thoughts are of course very present. I'd toy with taking pills, I'd cut myself, I'd even hit myself several times in the face and everywhere else on my body. And I'd bawl while doing these things. It was like I needed to hurt myself to feel better. I could be fine and seemingly happy one minute and the next I could be a complete mess. When people around me would worry about me or act like I had a problem I would get mad. I didn't want people to think I was crazy because I wasn't crazy, I just acted crazy and I couldn't stop it. I didn't want to admit there was something wrong with me. I tried therapy and that didn't work at all. I'd be thinking clearly during the session just like I would be any other time when I wasn't depressed. But that could change in an instant once you get depressed. Then you go back to the self-loathing and wanting to die. I hated myself and hated the world. I said mean things to people I loved. I didn’t want to hurt them and at the same time I couldn't stop doing this. I don't think I ever said anything as mean as what Lizzie says to Ruby (Michelle Williams) in the last half of the movie during one scene. That was really harsh, as was what she says to Rafe (Jason Biggs) at his house. But I know where she was coming from in her need for someone else to give her life meaning so she'd have a reason to live. I thought I loved someone too that I really didn't and in reality it couldn't have been more wrong. We didn't even have anything in common and didn't click. It was a horrible match. That's so clear to me now but I couldn't see it then. I was desperate for love. I wanted someone to save me and make me happy, hoping my depression would go away if I were in a relationship. But now I know I was so wrong and like with Lizzie I know it wouldn't have worked. I needed to be happy on my own before I could ever be happy with someone else. If I had been in a relationship I probably would have just pushed the person away. No person or people would make my depression go away completely. Maybe if I was constantly doing things with others I would be depressed less, but the minute I wasn't doing something I likely would have been depressed again. So no matter what I wouldn't be fine, not by doing nothing about it anyway. But I had tried therapy and it didn't help at all because I already knew the things they'd tell me. They didn't tell me anything I didn't. I knew how I should be and what I should feel and do, but them telling me this didn't make any difference because I'd still get depressed and when I did you'd think, feel, do, etc... everything they'd say not to. Yet I didn't want to take anti-depressants because like Lizzie in the movie I figured they would just be covering up my feelings and I wouldn't really even be myself. Who I was would be covered up and I didn't want to have to take drugs to be ok. Doing that would mean the person I was was crazy and needed to be drugged, at least it seemed like it to me at the time. So for a while I refused to take anything for my depression. Eventually I caved though and I felt a little better but they weren't working as well as I needed them to. So I tried another kind and they worked amazingly. But after a while they stopped working. I had become immune to that dosage amount. So I went to the doctor and had the dosage increased and they have worked perfectly ever since, which has been a long time. I feel great and haven't been extremely depressed in a long time, except every once in a while when I forget to take them. I'll know later the same day because believe it or not I'll start to get easily depressed again. You'd think there would still be enough in your system yet so that wouldn't happen so soon but it does. Most of the time I don't forget though.

I can still get sad and depressed sometimes but it's a regular kind of depressed and it's not so intense. It also doesn't happen so easily now. But I'm generally happy and I'm still myself, just the me I should be and not the extremely depressed and messed up me. Like it says in the movie the pills help give me breathing space. Some people wonder if the movie is for or against anti-depressants and while I'd say the movie isn't really about that and is just one person's story, if I had to choose I think it makes them look way more good than it does bad. And am I for them? I couldn't be more for them! If it's between being a depressed wreck or taking pills and being a much happier and healthier person I would definitely and whole-heartedly go with the anti-depressants. I'm a stronger person with them, a much stronger person, and I'm able to take criticism without it setting me off, as long as it's constructive criticism anyway. I'm sure I will be on anti-depressants my whole life, and that's fine with me because I don't ever want to go back to constantly feeling the way I did. I hated being like this so much that I would just want to die and end it all because it took so much energy being like this. I felt like I was hopeless and nothing could save me. But I never had the guts to go all the way with killing myself because a part of me wanted to live. Yet a big part of me didn't and that part tried to get up the courage to just off myself. I could never fully do it though. So I kept going back and forth non-stop all year-round between these two mindsets. At times it was almost like I was possessed, but not by the devil or any shit like that. And I suppose I was possessed in a way by a whole other breed of monster, depression. I personally feel that a lot of people that aren't taking anti-depressants need them, or would at least be better off with them. I know I won't dare stop taking them.

Because I've been through this I was really able to appreciate "Prozac Nation." It even brought tears to my eyes a couple of times because it all just rang so true for me. The first time it did wasn't even during one of the main emotional scenes. I had just seen enough and it finally got to me as much as needed to make me crack. It's not even as easy for me to cry on anti-depressants but I did.

Christina Ricci is a great actress and gives a great performance here as Lizzie. I'd say this is her second best performance, after her great supporting performance as Selby in "Monster." If you can relate to depression you'll probably find her performance great and layered. If you can't you could very well find it one-note or uneven (but uneven is how you are when you have severe depression; you're all over the place). Also giving really solid supporting performances were Jessica Lange as Lizzie's mother and Michelle Williams, whom I'm a big fan of, as Ruby. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Jason Biggs, and Anne Heche were fine as well but didn't have enough to do to be able to give performances that really stood out.

If you haven't experienced major depression first-hand then "Prozac Nation" isn't going to enlighten you on the subject. It is going to work best for people that know depression all too well. Being one of those people I found it to be great and highly effective. Since a movie like this is a tough sell, which is one of the reasons the "big for this kind of movie" budget surprises me, I know this never would have expanded much from its limited release. But it deserved to get released in at least two theaters, one in Los Angeles and one in New York City, where it would have done decent enough. Even a quick release in one theater would have been better than nothing. It was the least they could do. They were completely unfair to this movie. It's nice it has finally been released, but debuting on the Starz! channel and then putting it out on DVD is a real slap in the face to it. It's better than that. I also found it much better than "Girl, Interrupted." Miramax releasing this film how they did is a burn to Christina Ricci since the project meant so much to her and she is even one of the producers on it.

After the movie I became interested in reading the book. I ordered it and have been reading it. It's great so far and a must-read for many. While the movie will leave many in the dark that don't know much about depression, the book will help explain things to you a lot more. So far it's highly interesting, smartly written, wickedly funny, and touching. I enjoy the writing style quite a bit. It's interesting seeing how different the movie is from the book and yes; it has left a lot out. But it's kind of hard not to since the book is long and so full of detail. Without having voice-over narration from Lizzie non-stop throughout the whole movie it would be impossible to do it complete justice. It's easy to see how so many fans of the book could be disappointed though. I'm glad I saw the movie first because now it's easy for me to be able to accept it on its own and as a very well done tale of one girl's struggle with depression. I'd recommend the movie to anyone that can relate or is a fan of Christina Ricci, and I'd recommend the book to just plain anyone. You don't have to be able to relate to depression to read the book. I think the book should be required reading in high schools, and then afterwards the movie should be shown.

Grade: 8/10 (A-)

D. I really disliked this movie, everything from the acting to the script. Very irritating to watch. Different movies for different tastes I guess.

I'm glad you loved it Mike. What an amazing review you wrote, I think it's one of your best yet. I really agree with you, I think some of the people saying that they don't like the movie, haven't gone through real intense depression. If someone has, then they'd be able to appreciate the film for that it really is. I too have the book but I haven't read it yet.

Thanks a lot for the compliment. I'm really glad you liked it.

I think PROZAC NATION is the kind of film you need to watch with an open mind. I also think you need to have had some kind of depression in your life to really accept and understand the film. Many who see the film will see it because of the cover, Christina Ricci laying down naked. I'm disappointed that Miramax is basically advertising the film as "the Christina Ricci nude movie." Others will see it out of pure curiosity. It's really sad that Miramax had the film shelved for so long, I don't think it would have gotten many Oscar nominations but I think a nomination for Christina Ricci was a lock for Best Actress.

Many will find Lizzy's (Christina Ricci) actions over the top. I don't. I've talked to my parents like she's talked to hers many times. It wasn't because I wanted to, it was because I didn't know what to do in the situation I'm in and if they'd try to talk to me or try to have me do something different, I'd completely bitch them out and say ridiculous things to them. Most of the time I wasn't really mad at them, I just wasn't sure what I could do. When I was little and I saw my shrink basically every week, there would be times where I'd literally be screaming at my dad because of things he's done to me. Thats where my depression started. Then as my depression started getting deeper with other things not concerning him, I'd yell at him because I knew he deserved whatever was said to him, even if I didn't completely mean it. I think Lizzy was stuck somewhere she didn't want to be, so she was just taking out her anger on everyone and doing things she normally wouldn't do.

I had high hopes for PROZAC NATION and when I saw it on the Starz! network earlier this year, I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. The acting was amazing. Christina Ricci really does deserve an Oscar nomination for her performance. I think it's her best performance to date. She obviously believed in the project and loved it because she even appeared nude in the film, when she said she most likely would never appear nude in a movie. I'm sure she was disappointed how the release of the film was handled. It's not a fun movie by any means but it is an important one. Even if you aren't someone who's been extremely depressed in life and you can still accept the movie, you'll see what severe depression can do to a person.

9/10 (A-)