Angelina Jolie: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

2. Lisa Rowe - Girl, Interrupted (1999)

This is perhaps the most predictable choice on this list, given that Jolie's performance in this film resulted in her first Academy Award. While it was perhaps inevitable that it would feature here at some point, we shouldn't be so blase about her work on the film, either out of scepticism about the Oscars in general or because the film has won so much recognition over the years. If you've never seen any of Jolie's other performances, this one will still bowl you over. Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line), Girl, Interrupted is adapted from Susanna Kaysen's memoir of the same name. Set in the late-1960s, it follows a teenage Kaysen (Winona Ryder) who inadvertently checks into a mental hospital following an overdose on aspirin. Kaysen befriends several of the other patients, being drawn to the charismatic sociopath Lisa Rowe. The two quickly begin getting into mischief, and eventually manage to escape - though that is by no means the end of their problems... It's hard to watch some sections of Girl, Interrupted in light of the tragic early death of Jolie's co-star Britanny Murphy (ironically from a drug overdose). But it's still a very powerful work with a host of great performances, of which Jolie's remains the standout. She relishes in the character's emotional detachment, playing Lisa with a heightened sense of awareness which deflects from her own insecurities. It's the performance which in some respect continues to define her career - but it's still not quite her best work...