Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

godoyjrb It's nothing more than an apology do PROZAC; clearly a menchandising. I had severe depression and this of the so called anti-depressives never did any good for me, they don't help. AAt the 80ths a massive commercial campign in all medias tried people to believe it was a miracle, but it was only a big-pharma move to make money.About the character is mostly annoying than sick.

Melissa Usaki Yes, you will see the beautiful and barely 20 yo Christina Ricci topless in this depressing movie about depression and anti-depressants. I don't care what kind of pills she's on when the lights go off and those roundy rounds come out to play. Cheer up buttercup, you have a kickin' body, and you've made sure that everyone in America knows it. The movie is a little bit of a downer though, so take my advice and turn the sound off, see those big beautiful breasts floppin' around over that skinny, taught stomach of hers, and see where the night takes ya. Let it do what it do...let tha flow go, and us ladies may find out a little more about ourselves than we ever wanted to know.

sketchfordawn Watching Prozac Nation is a confusing experience. This is supposed to be *the* film about depression, adapted from the memoir by Elizabeth Wurtzel which is revered by neurotic teenage girls everywhere. I just could not bring myself to empathize with this beautiful, middle-class "literary freak" who has her life cut out for her at the expense of nearly everyone around her. The alienated Lizzie is taken by her doting, overworked mother to the most prestigious college in the world, immediately clicks with her new bff, goes to parties, drinks and does drugs, falls in love and gets paid to do what she loves writing rock reviews for Rolling Stone magazine. I don't imagine many young people who suffer with major depression can relate to this. I understand and respect that depression is something which can affect anyone (in fact, there is a proved correlation between material security and depression), but the film doesn't even attempt to thematically explore that. Instead of showing her context of thoughts and emotions, she spends half of the film screaming hysterically and insulting people. The only context we get is some clumsily tacked-on monologue, presumably pulled from the book. It is not an intelligent, cinematic development which leaves us with any feeling of why the character does the things she does. She just comes off as spoiled and conceited.Before the credits roll, we are told that "In the US, more than 300 million prescriptions are filled every year for prozac and other anti- depressants", leaving one with the impression that this was *supposed* to be an anti-drugs film. Funny that, as the subject of medication is only briefly alluded to at the end of the film with a scene that literally has all the subtlety of a succession of people collecting their prescriptions and Lizzie looking on thoughtfully. Hardly a critical commentary on an increasingly medicated America.One good thing about Prozac Nation is that there are some great lines in it, some nuggets of wisdom which I can only assume is to be credited to the book rather than anyone to do with the film. Lizzie describes depression as occurring "gradually, then suddenly" (a reference to Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises), and at the end of the film realises that recovery happens the same way. There is also quite a disturbing scene where we see that her apathy and her suicidality has affected her so profoundly that she's "not even afraid of heights anymore", illustrating her grim detachment from material reality.Though I have not read the book, I got the feeling that Wurtzel's undoubtedly highly personal narratives simply did not translate well into film. The complexity of the topic perhaps evaded the producers, who wanted to make an artsy, marketable film that would be enjoyed by a teenage demographic. There are many complications resulting from teenage depression: The pressure to "get better". The guilt of having a parent spend so much money on your therapy with no guarantee that it'll "work". The frustration of not having anyone understand you and not being able to articulate your experience. Where the film attempts to convey any of this, it falls short as we are distracted by Christina Ricci's annoying pretensions. All in all, Prozac Nation does not do justice to the highly complex topic that it has taken on. If the "beautiful and tragic" character trope annoys you to high hell… then watch this film anyway because it's fun to complain about things.

Tim Kidner It seems that the only viable way of buying this DVD as a region 2, is via this Dutch release. It seems to load automatically without a menu and so switching off the standard Dutch subtitles requires logistics and (in my case) an advanced DVD model with a 'subtitle' button, which even then, is not the end to the solution. The DVD synopsis is all in Dutch, too, so you'll need an online site such as IMDb to find out more.That point over - the film: I'd only heard of this - and not via the book. I wanted to see it as I've always admired Christine Ricci and maybe I hoped it would be a contentious and gripping - and possibly turgid - look into the underworld of over prescribing of the world's most famous (& infamous) but far from unique (there ARE other antidepressants available) mental health medication. I was also rather keen to see exactly why this movie is not mainstream, why it's not on sale at my local HMV and only gettable as a specialist online import.I was hoping - that it wasn't going to be a cliché-ridden sob story that said nothing about either the condition, the drug or the character that Ricci plays. Unfortunately, many well-intentioned movies covering this sort of subject do but I thought I ought to give it a try.Starting out with Elizabeth's (Ricci) mother, Jessica Lange, getting her daughter prepared for Harvard, where of course, Elizabeth is thrown into the usual round of new friends - and losing her virginity, to dishy Jonathan Rhys Meyer, then Jewish boyfriend Jason Biggs and flashbacks to an absent father. You can see the picture evolving, how the potential problems bubble up and manifest themselves, onto involvement with psychiatrist, Anne Heche. So yes, Prozac Nation is quietly predictable in this respect. There is no need to say more about the plot - you either want to watch it at this point, or not.I did - and do. Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjaerg does a fair job, with interesting visual and sound effects to subtly amplify the psychological issues. The opening titles are particularly well done. Ricci herself is very good as are all the main players whilst the dialogue is quite course at times, but believable.So, Prozac Nation is no trailblazer and might well deserve its specialist status but Ricci extends that beyond the obvious market and is worth seeing. Recommended, with some reservations.