This film was very well presented, with good performances. It is sad, and does not distort or exaggerate as many other films have, regarding mental and/or emotional disorders.
Diana Ross is very good as Paulie, a once brilliant pre-med student, who can no longer function due to paranoid schizophrenia.
Rhonda Stubbins-White is also very good as the sister, who wishes everything would just "get back to normal". The actress who portrays Ross' mother is also very good. There is also a cameo with Lindsay Crouse, who attempts to help Paulie in a new day treatment program.
Some of the scenes are disturbing, and anyone who may have experienced situations like this in real life may find it close to the truth. Ross gives the audience an excellent portrayal of the disorder, living in her own world, and enduring many medications and hospitalizations.
Finally, she is given a new medication which actually works. The scenes are very well-done, as she is sitting outside the medical school, suddenly feeling like she wants to live life again.
What I particularly appreciated about the message in this film was that, Paulie recovers in her own time; at age 44, she must learn to re-live the rest of her life, even though she lost 18 years in the hospital, due to the illness. The film does not condescend or fault the patient, she is merely doing the best she can to cope with a destructive illness.
At the conclusion, we see Paulie as she is functioning, ready to finish school. On the way, she sees a homeless woman. She leaves her some food, reflecting on how alienated some people are, and how fortunate she was, to have received effective treatment. 9/10.
