De l'amour à la folie

It seems like the title of this movie was chosen at the last minute by the guy in the business suit. "So it's about a coupla teenagers, let's say they're 'in love', and one of them has mental problems, let's call her crazy..." The film itself though, I think, resists cliches, especially the fact that the four letter word (love) was avoided, which has a tendency to suck dry any useful plot content that might be found in a movie, opting for some different ways of illustrating their relationship. The two main characters are well portrayed, and believable. I think Barrymore and O'Donnell hold together something that may not have great elements like soundtrack, plot originality etc, because despite the fact that Drew's eyebrows really annoyed me, they both did a good job.

Like many other reviewers, I feel this is a poor movie (screenplay), but Drew really captures the feeling of mental illness. I've known some people who are manic depressive (and a few schizophrenics) and I have to say that Drew must have some personal knowledge of severe depression to be able to pull off a performance like this. She really elevates the movie from a 2-bit teen romance and makes it worth watching. I'm not generally a fan (*hated* Donnie Darko) and I usually find her childish "damaged goods" image rather irritating even though it may be her real personality, but in this one she just embodies the part. 6/10.

This is a love story, of sorts, which conflicts the viewer in that it tenderly presents this tragic heroine and then shocks the audience by eloquently demonstrating the ins and outs of the moderate-to-severe bi-polar disorder, with which the heroine attempts to live.

(The mother states her daughter suffers from depression, but Drew's depiction does NOT indicate depression alone. There are extreme highs and bottom-dipping lows, which would be more indicative of manic depression or bi-polar disorder than depression alone. Not to minimize the life-changing effects of clinical or chemical depression, because I'm not.)

Drew generates a stellar performance here, and fully sells the range of emotions her character experiences. Her portrayal is dead on perfect; in not just the disease itself, but her depth and range here is nothing short of phenomenal.

Chris O'Donnell is not as lacking as some would make one believe. He contributes an adequate performance as a young man without a clue; therefore, his character is vastly disliked because he comes off as clueless, and movie-goers associated him with the character. Go figure.

This work is seriously underrated, primarily due to the unsatisfactorily heart-wrenching ending, but also due to the audiences inability to conceive of Drew as anything but bubbly and intelligent. She customarily takes parts in which her character is put in a sweet (if rose-colored) light, whereas her role herein is quite edgy and tragic.

The screenplay itself is not solid. The flux is very fluid within this story. The only solid thing here are the performances by Drew and Chris, and the profound sadness and sense of loss experienced by its viewers via the execution of the story line.

I actually enjoyed this, though the ending IS unsettling and fails to satisfy.

It rates an 8.4/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Matt Leland (Chris O'Donnell) has talkative best friend Eric (Matthew Lillard). Matt is taken with new girl Casey Roberts (Drew Barrymore). They begin a wild relationship. She gets suspended and her parents put her away. He helps her escape the psych ward and they go on a road trip. However, her manic depressive state gets more volatile and beyond his ability to help.

I never bought Chris O'Donnell as a romantic lead. He's too white bread and doesn't have the passion. This is love at first sight and who can blame him. Drew can do that to many men but I don't see them as Romeo and Juliet. Drew is convincing with mental illness but it is a little overwrought. I'm not really that invested in this relationship. This is a lesser 90s teen melodrama.

The bipolar stuff is dead on and Barrymore sells it. O'Donnell as the significant other dealing with it is also good but the movie opens slow and takes a while to hook you and lame half-assed attempts at emotional dialogue derail it toward the end, which is too bad because a good movie on bipolar deserves to be made but this is not quite it. Joan Allen is good as always but the man playing her husband has one note. Other cast members do what they can with small parts but in the end this is a two person story. And unfortunately it is about a man in over his head written by a writer in over hers.