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120 of 129 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Film - Wonderful Acting - Good Storytelling, June 25, 2001
This is it folks - a genuine "breakout performance". We don't get them often enough so we should pay attention when we do.WARNING ::: This review reveals some plot points ! "Gia", a film for HBO, stars Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Mitchell and Mercedes Ruehl. This film is the life-story of Gia Carangi, one of the first "supermodels". How big a star/model was Gia? Well, Cindy Crawford was dubbed the "young Gia" and the "next Gia" - that's how famous she was. Unfortunately, besides being the "face" of the day in the modelling world, she was also fairly famous for her drug addiction and ultimate fall from grace. If you want a more indepth depiction of Gia's life - there are a couple of books available. The best being "Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia". Back to the film. Angelina Jolie BECOMES Gia in every sense of the word. Her performance is one of the best portrayals of real people in years. She is completely and utter believable. She captures what is surely the essense of Gia. She brings a desparate wanting to the character that you can feel. Elizabeth Mitchell ( recently of "ER" fame ) co-stars and really provides an excellent touch-stone for Gia's tortured existance. There's nothing pretty about this film - it shows the whole story, the drugs, the parties, the sex, the pain and the suffering. It depicts, with little filter, the USING of Gia and her decent into her fate. It's no surprise that Angelina won a Golden Globe for this amazing performance. It's no surprise that she was nominated for an Emmy either. You're not able to take your eyes off her. As a matter of fact, this is a much awarded film - including a best actress award for Angelina Jolie at the LA Outfest. Faye Dunaway is mainly here for star power - almost as if they weren't sure Angelina Jolie could pull it off. She's okay here, but we all know that Faye has done some amazing work and here, she sort of phones it in. Mercedes Ruehl plays Gia's mother and she does a good job. She's a little over the top but you suspect it's an accurate portrayal. For the Angelina Jolie fan - it's a MUST SEE, MUST OWN film. For others, it really is worth the time and money. You don't often get a chance to see a young star make an amazing film like this. You'll see small tales of "Lisa" from her Academy Award winning performance in "Girl, Interupted" in Gia, but mostly you'll see an INCREDIBLE performance by Angelina Jolie. Really remarkable. FYI : There is an UNRATED version available on VHS that is currently not available on DVD. The UNRATED version contains more explict scenes ( specifically the shower sequence is longer ). In all, a great film. Well written, directed and acted. A real gem. Thank you HBO. All The Best, turtlex
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