Product Details

• Actors: Christina Ricci, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jessica Lange, Anne Heche, Jason Biggs
• Directors: Erik Skjoldbjćrg
• Writers: Elizabeth Wurtzel, Frank Deasy, Galt Niederhoffer, Larry Gross
• Producers: Andrea Sperling, Andrew Sugerman, Avi Lerner
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Unknown)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: July 5, 2005
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00094ASC2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,773 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Prozac Nation" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Fans of Christina Ricci will note that the saucer-eyed actress takes a big leap from deadpan-child and grumpy-ingenue roles with Prozac Nation, an adaptation of Elizabeth Wurtzel's bestselling book. Ricci puts her all into playing Lizzie, a self-absorbed Ivy League writer wannabe who alienates friends and family with her out-of-control mood swings and other chemical imbalances. Ricci is committed and convincing, but nothing she does ameliorates Lizzie's exasperating personality; spending 90 minutes around this person is an eternity of tantrums. Around to provide audience stand-ins are Jason Biggs, Michelle Williams, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, all of whom disapprove of Lizzie's self-destructive behavior. Jessica Lange, professional as always, is Lizzie's brittle mother. If the movie really did capture the sense of the zeitgeist suggested by its grandiose title, or if it carried some intriguing stylistic urgency that carried us into its depressive labyrinth, perhaps Lizzie's journey would be palatable. But the long delay between Prozac Nation's shooting (in 2001) and its emergence on cable-TV and DVD is all too easy to understand. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Award winners Christina Ricci (CURSED, MONSTER) and Jessica Lange (BIG FISH, ROB ROY) star in this emotionally charged true story about a journey into excess! When talented young writer Elizabeth Wurtzel (Ricci) earns a scholarship to Harvard, she sees it as her chance to escape the pressures of her working-class background and concentrate on her true talent. But what starts out so promising leads to self-destructive behavior and paralyzing depression that reflects an entire generation's struggle to navigate the effects of divorce, drugs, sex, and high expectations. Based on the best-selling autobiographical novel, PROZAC NATION also stars Michelle Williams (THE STATION AGENT), Anne Heche (JOHN Q), Jason Biggs (JERSEY GIRL), and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome to my nightmare, Welcome to my breakdown January 11, 2006

By Schtinky VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Evidently based on a true story, 'Prozac Nation' documents the life of Elizabeth Wurtzel (played expertly by Christina Ricci), a young woman from a unstable broken family, earns a scholarship to Harvard for a journalism degree. It's no surprise that Lizzie is depressed, her parents are each dysfunctional in their own right. Lizzie's mother (skillfully played by Jessica Lange) worries that Lizzie will isolate herself in college. Lizzie tries not to let her mother down, but depression is not a beast that is so easily tamed.

Isolation, substance abuse, withdrawing, avoiding conflict, staying up for days, brain-cycling (like a short circuit), not bathing, sudden outbursts of anger, fear of becoming close to others, subconscious attempts to prove oneself unworthy, obsessive-compulsive behavior, all are signs of clinical depression. 'Prozac Nation', with the expert performance of Christina Ricci, shows every inch of Lizzie's slide into deeper and deeper depression.

At one point, Lizzie says, "How can I escape the demons in my head?" As a person being successfully treated for clinical depression, this phrase alone literally struck home with me. 'Prozac Nation' is an all-out, no-holes-barred look at what it is like to suffer from this disorder. The movie is very well done, and you will either find yourself identifying with Lizzie or hating her for being self-centered.

Thrown into the mix is the fact that Lizzie is a writer, and very few of the most talented writers would be considered 'normal' people. Lizzie herself even uses a quote from Hemmingway's "The Sun Also Rises" and finds identity within it. Good writers stay inside their own head too much, and Lizzie has talent in her work, winning the College Journalism Award for 1985.

During the course of coping with college, alienating her parents and her best friend, and eventually her boyfriend, Lizzie finds herself in therapy again with Dr. Sterling (played very well, surprisingly, by Anne Heche). It isn't until many visits with Dr. Sterling and eventually a prescription for Prozac to help her "gain some perspective and stop spinning out of control". At this point, I thought it was a little funny that Lizzie referred to her pharmacy as a "legal crackhouse".

I thought that this was a beautifully done movie about the realism of clinical depression. Well filmed, well acted, well set, and with a great script, 'Prozac Nation' deserves much more recognition than it got. I consider this movie a "buy". Enjoy!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Movie Gets You Gradually... Then Suddenly October 11, 2005

By H. A Truett VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Aside from the starting scene with a completely naked Christina Ricci, it may well be one of my all-time favorite movies. Though, I am sure, my reasons for that may be the same reasons many people will not understand the movie at all. Let me give you a quick spill on what the movie is about.

It is based on the by Elizabeth Wurtzel, the true story of a girl (Lizzie) in the 80's who goes on Prozac. She is depressed. The movie shows her experiences at college as she spirals to the point of being put on Prozac.

Now, why did I like this movie so much? There are a couple of reasons. One was the camera angles. I am not usually one who even notices that stuff, but there were some really interesting shots in this movie. It gave another dimension to the story. Second, the lines. There were some amazing lines about depression. One that I remember was, "One moring you wake up and realize you're afraid you might live." Repeat that to yourself. Think about it. If you have ever been in a clinical state of depression, you understand that statement. It feels real on your tongue, familiar in your mouth. You may have even said it.

The main reason that I liked this movie had nothing to do with anything artistic. I loved and hated Lizzie all at one time, because I could see myself in her. Granted, I skipped out on drugs, alcohol, and smoking. I was never one to sling my anger to the outside, as she did. At least, not as often. But the things she was feeling. How she would do things she didn't want to do and couldn't understand how they were happening, why she was needing to do them... I have been there. In one scene, where she is arguing with her mother, yelling, screaming, bouncing violently between begging forgiveness and spewing hatred, it was like looking in a mirror. The way she held her head as she cried. You could see the tension in her arms. She wanted to run, to hit and throw. It wouldn't have surprised me if she had turned and banged her head into the nearest wall.

Her actions were not strange to me.

After one line, my husband turned to me and said, "Is that how you feel?" And I had to nod. The line... Lizzie was sitting at a table, waiting on the next guy she would throw herself at, the one she had chosen to be her salvation, and you can hear her thoughts. In her head, she says, "Don't let him know how crazy you are." They didn't have to tell me that is what she was thinking though. I already knew.

I don't know how I feel about that, so I am not going to write anymore about this movie right now. Suffice it to say that it was well done.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The book is always better October 9, 2006

By A. Vegan

Format:DVD

I thought that the main problem with Prozac Nation was that it just seemed to lack focus. The movie obviously compressed a lot of details in the book, but I think if it had just focused on the main crisis of the book, the character's descent into depression would have been easier to understand and empathize. As it was, it tried to do that, but it also tried to cram in other things, and I feel that if I hadn't read the book or gone through something similar myself, I would not have understood why Lizzie was so afflicted at this particular point in her life.

I thought the acting was excellent: Michelle Williams and Jason Biggs were great, and Christina Ricci was phenomenal, capturing the entire range of the pain and anger and self-loathing of depression. I thought Jessica Lange put in a good performance, although her bizarre accent and the fact that she in no way resembles the darker and petite Christina Ricci was really distracting. I was simply unable to believe she was her mother, and certainly not a Jewish mother.

If you've suffered from severe depression, then watch it and know that there are other people who feel the same way you do and think the same thoughts as you, and who would understand why you feel and act the way you do. Otherwise, skip it. If you don't understand depression before going into the film, it is unlikely that this it will shed any light on the topic for you. It's pretty much impossible to understand unless you've been there yourself.