Matt falls for Casey, the new girl in school. She's fun-loving and eccentric, but there's a darkness to her whimsy that Matt can't begin to comprehend. When Casey attempts to commit suicide, her parents place her in a mental institution. Matt springs her out, and together the young lovers head on a road trip. They believe their love can "cure" Casey's problems. Matt starts to wonder, though, if are they inspired or misguided.
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Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Blistering performances.
This is a teen romantic drama road movie. It stars Drew Barrymore as Casey and Chris O'Donnell as Matt. She's from Chicago, is new at his high school in Seattle and has moved near to him. She has borderline personality disorder and is sectioned after taking a drug overdose. He helps her escape from the psychiatric ward where she is being held, and they drive away in his SUV. She's likable, but her behaviour becomes more bizarre and dangerous - and he realises that she has to go back to hospital. Barrymore's performance is brilliant, giving a very good portrayal of a BPD sufferer. It's the best performance I've seen from her.How was this largely ignored - yet the very boring The Fault in Our Stars (which is also an American romantic drama film which deals with ill teens in a new relationship) was massively successful?
Although in the movie she is diagnosed with clinical depression that is not what the character has. Drew Barrymore's character displays the perfect diagnostic criteria for a Borderline. She is reactive to certain situations and rapidly changes moods with overwhelming emotions, she is exactly like me.*Contains Spoilers* "A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation." In the beginning Drew Barrymore is exciting, interesting, wild, and intense. She falls completely in love with Chis O'Donnell's character and obsessed with him. When he refuses to leave class after she pulls the alarm she doesn't talk to him for days. Their relationship becomes very intense and leads to concern from their parents. Chris really shines in this movie because he plays the perfect responsible and care-giving individual that would be attracted to and give care to Drew. He is innocent and naive which is the type of person a borderline would desire."Impulsiveness in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., promiscuous sex, eating disorders, binge eating, substance abuse, reckless driving)." This is the most obvious in the movie. She pulls the fire alarm, she takes a trip with Chris to a waterfall during school hours. She jumps into the lake after she and her parents have a fight. She runs away from home with O'Donnell in fear that their parents will send her away and have her leave Chris. She drives recklessly while turning the last minute only to wreck the car. She attacks the driver that picks her up and steals his car. Drives off after she catches Chris talking to her mother in fear that he is trying to abandon her. Smokes cigarettes. I believe because it was a PG rated movie they did not have her do drugs or have sex with many partners."Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats or self-injuring behavior such as cutting, interfering with the healing of scars (excoriation) or picking at oneself." She pulls a gun to both of their heads, and attempts suicide. She talks about her parents and her father which makes her upset and she goes into the bathroom and starts crying and having an anxiety attack. Threatens to kill herself and holds a gun to her head. I believe they didn't make her a cutter because of the PG rating."Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days)." She pastes pictures of dozens of faces from magazines in an insane sort of of way. The episode in the bathroom also."Chronic feelings of emptiness" Her behavior is an example of her feelings of emptiness. When she calls late at night because she just needed to hear from him. It's hard to explain this but as a borderline myself i did the same thing. It's like you fear the person doesn't love you anymore and you need reassurance constantly."Inappropriate anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights)." She burns the guy in the car with her cigarette."Transient, stress-related paranoid idealization, delusions or severe dissociative symptoms." When Chris is selling his telescope for cash she spaces out and experiences a dissociative moment as if she is seeing the world out of herself. This is a good example because of the camera work and score. She believes he doesn't want her anymore just because he calls her parents."Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self." This as with feelings of emptiness, is seen throughout the movie by her behavior in general. I think an example of this is when she posts all of the pictures of women from magazines so they can 'look at her' makes her feel a sense of identity.Over all this movie perfectly shows the personality of a Borderline Personality Disorder sufferer. Medications can't really help other than treating symptoms like depression or anxiety. The affect on the family and boyfriend also show how real life families struggle with a loved one suffers from it. Chris is often walking on eggshells to avoid offending or hurting her.What makes this movie so good is the perfect example of a mental illness. This is a rare thing to seen in movies, usually they mix disorder u p and get them all wrong. I recommend this movie to anyone that suffers from or know someone that suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. I suffer from it myself and set my first boyfriend through the ringer like she did. Once I found out what it was, well now I know what i have and am getting the right treatment for it.
Just when you thought movies in the 1990s couldn't get any worse, along comes this lumpy stew of a teen romance. I wasn't sure the picture could actually sink any lower from the ludicrous opening sequence (scored with an abominable rock song); unfortunately, it does. Boy meets girl at school, they flirt, they date, they run off together. The conceit here is that she's mentally unbalanced. It isn't a fresh spin, although the filmmakers and the cast proceed like they're doing something new, and who knows? Maybe the young audience targeted for the picture actually believe in its sentiments. To all of us over 30 it's pretty excruciating, not to mention terribly irresponsible, and not quite the "wild and sexy adventure" advertised. NO STARS from ****
Mad Love probably generated as much of a viewer ship as it did because of the likability of the two principal, Drew Barrymore and Chris O'Donnell. I never thought of the movie as anything special, and figured that this would probably survive obscurity by fans of the cast or those who appreciate a decent dreamy romantic drama every now again, for which it is quite abundant.O'Donnell, though never a spectacular lead, carries well himself well as the good-natured, soft-spoken high school teen, Matt Leland. Upon meeting flamboyant, rule-breaker Casey Roberts (Drew Barrymore, working with the type of characters that always seem to suit her), Leland falls in love with the rather tragic character and goes through one of those earmarked defiances and coming-of-age experiences. That is because Casey is an emotionally unstable character because she is bipolar.As their relationship furthers, free-spirited Casey grows rather obsessive in the relationship and a bit too detached from reality. After a few minor incidents, or at least what you might consider relatively minor while the characters in the story might not, Casey's parents want to commit her to a mental institution to undergo therapy. Destined not to let his first true love being lobotomized and unnecessarily drugged, Matt and Casey hit the road like fugitives in love. The material is very routine, but there is something at least, from the principal actors' ability to carry it out well and, for the most part, believably (save some of Barrymore's poor delivery at points) and with minimal corniness. Best of all, it does a good job with getting you to stay connected to the characters. You feel a bit free-spirited yourselves when (if you're enjoying the movie, of course) Matt and Casey endure their hijinks. You get that connection when Casey is forced into the hospital; the uneasiness that Matt feels when he runs away with Casey; and the pressure that he faces throughout. At least they had effectively done that much.Not an impressive or all to memorable movie, though, as I said before, you should be pleased if you generally enjoy O'Donnell and Barrymore, or, if you're just a sucker for dreamy romantic dramas.