Please just strangle that smug couple before I throw something at the screen .. is this the reaction you hoped to evoke Mike Leigh? Or are Tom and Gerri your idea of a "healthy" couple? Are you likewise vapid and sanctimonious? Of course your nebulous framework leaves us only to wonder ...what WAS the message here? yes it made me think, forced me to draw my own conclusions and for that you have again triumphed. These characters stirred up lots of emotion in me. I felt disdain for the heroes (note son's cajoling girlfriend) and genuine empathy/fondness for the tragic ones (all of them).. but then again which were the real tragedies ? Geri and her like are the reason I avoid therapy. Having never struggled herself she is hardly sympathetic. The sanctity of her boring life shelters her from developing real relationships with the fascinating people surrounding her. Ditto Tom. Their shared comfort is wrought with complacency and co-dependence. Neither feels a need to truly relate with other people as they consistently crawl back into each others arms for a nightly sh*t talk about their less fortunate friends. There is nothing wrong with a symbiotic relationship but this one is so lofty and banal I'd rather be single and have a ..well.. personality. that leads us to Mary. poor desperate Mary. She took chances in life that earned her a colorful personality, but scarcely more. She did not settle into monotony yet she found only heartache. She is horribly lonely. Mary's emptiness leads her to vices like alcohol, little red cars and fake friends. Still she is more genuine than the other star players here as she is honest with her misery.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Another Year
(2010)
The pendulum swings heavily between two tragic ends over London town.
11 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Boy Interrupted
(2009)
one family's struggle to save their child raises many unanswered questions about mental illness
4 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Having just watched "Boy Interrupted" I am left with a deep ache in my heart. What a profoundly moving story of a life which ended way too soon. My heart goes out to Evan Scott Perry's loved ones as well as to all the friends and families of those who have lost someone special.
The movie was painful to watch, yet calmly compelling and well crafted. The care taken to create this professional, elegant piece is further testament to the absolute love and commitment his family had to Evan. I hope the making of this film eulogy has aided the family in their grieving process.
Now I feel compelled to address some issues that arose while watching the film. The doctor who treated Evan seems a bit peculiar and I have some legitimate concerns over his treatment. Dr. Ladd Spiegel treated Evan for 10 years. When interviewed, Dr. Spiegel proclaims "I never knew Evan very well." Upon reviewing his notes, the doctor does not have many positive or sensitive things to say about Evan, referring to him as "the scariest kid I've ever seen in my life."
If being "scary"was one of Evan's childhood characteristics, it pales in comparison to his attributes. Throughout the film we are treated to charming video footage of Evan. I feel I got to know him a little and came to like him a lot. He was an exceptional child and was growing into an articulate,successful young man.
As Dana Perry narrates her son's life, we learn that just months before Evan's suicide he was weaned from the prescription he had been on since childhood. The doctor agrees to a trial of 4-6 weeks to wean the boy from 1200 mg of Lithium. This is an exceptionally short time period for tapering off a strong mood stabilizer. These are powerful drugs which affect the chemistry of the body and brain. Pharmaceutical companies claim these drugs cannot be addictive hence do not cause withdrawal symptoms, yet they warn to taper off very slowly under close physician supervision.
Dr. Spiegel's assertion that Evan was seemingly cured of bipolar disorder upon his rapid lowering of the lithium dose contradicts everything else the doctor states about Evan's condition. This suicidal boy who was once "the scariest kid I've ever seen" suddenly "seemed fine." Then the doctor acts shocked and surprised at how quickly Evan takes his life after quitting the medication. Finally Dr. Spielgel fires his most nasty defense. He defines bipolar disorder as "our cancer" in psychiatry.
My own doctor prescribed a small dose of Zoloft for mild depression for about 2 years. Last year, with my doctor's approval I decided to taper off the drug. At the time I felt stable and happy and saw no reason to continue taking it. The result: cried like a baby for two weeks and hardly made it to work. Though I have never been suicidal, I felt hopeless and empty for the next 2 months. I cannot imagine the extent of symptoms had I taken the drug in my formative years and my body and mind had literally developed while taking it.
Most likely I should have seen a therapist during my transition off Zoloft. My M.D. did not even suggest it. Tragically, the doctors we trust to help our loved ones and ourselves with mental health issues are sometimes lacking. We have seen several celebrity deaths of late that might have been avoided had doctors been engaged in monitoring their clients' drug intake.
I'm not a medical practitioner and don't claim to know the correct approach to treating bipolar disorder. I do know someone who lives with the condition. He manages a healthy life through psychotherapy, medication and nutrition. Not all persons afflicted with the disorder are so fortunate.
However, bipolar disorder is not a cancer. That kind of thinking is fatalistic. People living with BPD need doctors who are optimistic, attentive, extremely cautious and devoted to healing. Perhaps the "cancer" in this situation was the incompetence of a doctor who viewed the disorder as a fatal disease rather than a treatable condition.
There is no sense wondering how things might have played out differently for Evan Scott Perry. Brightly, his life was documented, thanks to his loving parents, and his memory will live on to remind us how precious life is.
The movie was painful to watch, yet calmly compelling and well crafted. The care taken to create this professional, elegant piece is further testament to the absolute love and commitment his family had to Evan. I hope the making of this film eulogy has aided the family in their grieving process.
Now I feel compelled to address some issues that arose while watching the film. The doctor who treated Evan seems a bit peculiar and I have some legitimate concerns over his treatment. Dr. Ladd Spiegel treated Evan for 10 years. When interviewed, Dr. Spiegel proclaims "I never knew Evan very well." Upon reviewing his notes, the doctor does not have many positive or sensitive things to say about Evan, referring to him as "the scariest kid I've ever seen in my life."
If being "scary"was one of Evan's childhood characteristics, it pales in comparison to his attributes. Throughout the film we are treated to charming video footage of Evan. I feel I got to know him a little and came to like him a lot. He was an exceptional child and was growing into an articulate,successful young man.
As Dana Perry narrates her son's life, we learn that just months before Evan's suicide he was weaned from the prescription he had been on since childhood. The doctor agrees to a trial of 4-6 weeks to wean the boy from 1200 mg of Lithium. This is an exceptionally short time period for tapering off a strong mood stabilizer. These are powerful drugs which affect the chemistry of the body and brain. Pharmaceutical companies claim these drugs cannot be addictive hence do not cause withdrawal symptoms, yet they warn to taper off very slowly under close physician supervision.
Dr. Spiegel's assertion that Evan was seemingly cured of bipolar disorder upon his rapid lowering of the lithium dose contradicts everything else the doctor states about Evan's condition. This suicidal boy who was once "the scariest kid I've ever seen" suddenly "seemed fine." Then the doctor acts shocked and surprised at how quickly Evan takes his life after quitting the medication. Finally Dr. Spielgel fires his most nasty defense. He defines bipolar disorder as "our cancer" in psychiatry.
My own doctor prescribed a small dose of Zoloft for mild depression for about 2 years. Last year, with my doctor's approval I decided to taper off the drug. At the time I felt stable and happy and saw no reason to continue taking it. The result: cried like a baby for two weeks and hardly made it to work. Though I have never been suicidal, I felt hopeless and empty for the next 2 months. I cannot imagine the extent of symptoms had I taken the drug in my formative years and my body and mind had literally developed while taking it.
Most likely I should have seen a therapist during my transition off Zoloft. My M.D. did not even suggest it. Tragically, the doctors we trust to help our loved ones and ourselves with mental health issues are sometimes lacking. We have seen several celebrity deaths of late that might have been avoided had doctors been engaged in monitoring their clients' drug intake.
I'm not a medical practitioner and don't claim to know the correct approach to treating bipolar disorder. I do know someone who lives with the condition. He manages a healthy life through psychotherapy, medication and nutrition. Not all persons afflicted with the disorder are so fortunate.
However, bipolar disorder is not a cancer. That kind of thinking is fatalistic. People living with BPD need doctors who are optimistic, attentive, extremely cautious and devoted to healing. Perhaps the "cancer" in this situation was the incompetence of a doctor who viewed the disorder as a fatal disease rather than a treatable condition.
There is no sense wondering how things might have played out differently for Evan Scott Perry. Brightly, his life was documented, thanks to his loving parents, and his memory will live on to remind us how precious life is.
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