Themes: Twentysomething Life, Mental Illness, Mothers and Daughters
Main Cast: Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Anne Heche, Michelle Williams, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
Release Year: 2001
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
Following up his critically acclaimed debut Insomnia (1997), Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjaerg makes his first English-language feature with this adaptation of the book by Elizabeth Wurtzel. Christina Ricci stars as Lizzie, a prize-winning student heading off to Harvard where she intends to study journalism and launch a career as a rock music critic. However, Elizabeth's fractured family situation including an errant father (Nicholas Campbell) and a neurotic, bitterly hypercritical mother (Jessica Lange) has led to a struggle with depression. When her all-night, drug-fueled writing binges and emotional instability alienate her roommate and best friend, Ruby (Michelle Williams), as well as both her first (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and second (Jason Biggs) boyfriends, Lizzie seeks psychiatric counseling from Dr. Diana Sterling (Anne Heche), who prescribes the wonder drug Prozac. Despite success as a writer that includes a gig writing for Rolling Stone and some mellowing out thanks to her medication, Lizzie begins to feel that the pills are running her life and faces some tough choices about her future. Prozac Nation (2001) is a longtime dream project of star Ricci, who also serves as one of the film's co-producers. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Erik Skjoldbjærg - Director, Brad Weston - Producer, A. Michael Miller - Producer, R. Paul Miller - Producer, Galt Niederhoffer - Producer, Frank Deasy - Screenwriter, Larry Gross - Screenwriter, Galt Niederhoffer - Screenwriter, Alex Orlovsky - Screenwriter, Elizabeth Wurtzel - Book Author
Months of subsequent test screenings and re-edits of the film never led to a broad commercial release. [1]The film was released in Norway, Skjoldbjærg's native country, in August 2003, but it never had a national release in the U.S. market. It premiered on the Starz! channel in March 2005, and was released on DVD that following summer.
Frank Deasy, who co-wrote the screenplay, offered his opinion to The Guardian on Miramax's failure to release the film:
It's a truthful depiction of depression. And I think the reason Miramax has struggled is the fact that it doesn't have a traditional dramatic structure, in terms of a clear, unqualified ending. Look at the book: Elizabeth is very clear that Prozac has helped her, but you're left with a dilemma, because perhaps she no longer knows who she is. We didn't want to come down heavily on one side or the other. People who've experienced depression like that aspect of the film, but a lot of people don't like it. Miramax certainly didn't seem to like it. [2]
