Reviewed by Vickie Reichardt, Cinema Geek

Vick's Rating: and 1/2

= There's two hours of my life I'll never see again. Is it too late to ask for my money back?
= They could have done SO much better. Wait for the video.
= Not bad at all. Some solid work.
= Wow! I'm very impressed. I might go see this one again.
= For the love of all that is good and kind in the world, what an amazing movie!!!

Directed by Michael Cristofer

Cast: Angelina Jolie....Gia Carangi
Mercedes Ruehl....Kathleen
Faye Dunaway....Wilhelmina Cooper
Elizabeth Mitchell....Linda
Louis Giambalvo.....Joe
Eric Michael Cole....T.J.

I've started and restarted this review at least a dozen times now--scrapping the clichéd intros and lame openings over and over again--and I keep coming up with the same basic point: If this movie doesn't make Angelina Jolie a star, I don't know what will.

Jolie turns in a powerhouse performance as the title character, real-life supermodel Gia Carangi, in this stirring drama that chronicles Gia's turbulent life--from her early days in Philadelphia to her reign among the fashion world's elite to her eventual downfall and death of AIDS-related causes at age twenty-six. A lesbian and a drug addict, Gia led an unapologetic life and lived it with in-your-face gusto. Similarly, the film--told as a series of flashbacks punctuated by documentary-style "interviews" with those who knew Gia--makes no apologies in portraying her sexuality or her substance abuse.

While her work as a model--and the seamier side of the fashion industry in the late 1970s and early 1980s--forms the foundation of the film, its heart lies in Gia's relationships with the three most important women in her life: her mother, Kathleen (Mercedes Ruehl); her mentor, agency head Wilhelmina Cooper (Faye Dunaway); and her lover, Linda (Elizabeth Mitchell). To each one Gia is someone different: a rebellious child--sometimes defiant, sometimes needy; a model unlike any other with problems that were hardly unique; a beautiful heart beneath a tough exterior.

A movie about catwalks and photo shoots and Studio 54 and "beautiful people" has a heart? You bet it does.

Directed by Michael Cristofer, "Gia" is an incredibly moving film that hangs with you long after the closing credits roll. Despite watching it more than a week ago, I'm still haunted by it today. I find myself engrossed in Stephen Fried's biography of Gia ("Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia") and sitting in secondhand bookstores looking through decades-old copies of VOGUE on the off-chance I might catch a faded glimpse of the real thing. The effects of the movie are not so much a testament to the filmmaking, which is solid, but to the compelling story and first-rate performances by its top-notch cast.

Mercedes Ruehl plays Kathleen in a way that might make her tough to read for the average viewer, but that works nicely. Kathleen seems distant, but always affected. She doesn't appear overly moved when she speaks of her late daughter, but every word out of her mouth seems tinged with sadness. Whatever opinions you might form about Kathleen's choices, her love for Gia is never in question. At the other end of the mothering spectrum is Faye Dunaway, who in my opinion often seems too "big" for her roles, but is perfectly cast here as Wilhelmina. She combines just the right amount of steely businesswoman savvy with maternal caring, and you can't help but want to believe her when she says, "Everything will be fine."

As Gia's put-upon girlfriend, Elizabeth Mitchell creates such a warm and loving character that I was surprised to find out Linda is actually a composite character based on a few of Gia's real-life lovers, and never actually existed. Despite having her heart broken by Gia's erratic behavior and ever-escalating drug habit, one wry smile from Gia and Linda melts--but she's no sucker. Mitchell's take on Linda clearly makes the distinction between someone who's too blind to notice the real problems and someone who's too much in love to care. Completely convincing and tenderly depicted, the entire Linda-Gia storyline was by far my favorite of the film.

Which brings me to Ms. Jolie. I cannot say enough about her work in "Gia." If I stood on a crate and yelled "AMAZING!" at the top of my lungs, I still wouldn't feel like I was doing it justice. She recently won a Golden Globe Award for her work in the made-for-cable movie "George Wallace," and from the moment she appears onscreen here, with spiky purple hair and a cigarette dangling from her lips, she owns every scene in which she appears. Powerful, raw, intense, heartbreaking and endearing are just a few of the words that spring to mind. She takes what could have been an unsympathetic character and turns her into someone you want to reach out to and embrace, presenting at the same time someone so multi-facted that, as Linda points out, "Anyone who says they can tell you exactly who she was...didn't really know her at all." Jolie's portrayal of Gia is one of the most fearless and achingly honest performances I have seen in a long time. She doesn't just play Gia, she becomes her. Memo to Angelina: Start writing that Emmy speech now.

Overall, the film succeeds by asking us not to pity Gia but to understand her. It's not meant to be a "message film," with the Moral of the Story running across the bottom of the screen in flashing letters. Instead, it's a well-told profile of a troubled young woman who made serious mistakes in her life, took responsibility for them and tried to correct them as best she knew how. It's an emotional movie, but never manipulative. The version I saw was a rough cut--some scenes had no sound whatsoever and the entire film was without music or onscreen titles. Consequently, I know that when I started to tear up, it wasn't because of a depressing score or a weepy song playing softly in the background. It moved me solely on the basis of the story and the storytellers, and that was impressive.

Regardless of what you may think of "Gia" the movie, whether it bores you or thrills you or moves you or disgusts you, one thing is certain: after watching it, you will never forget Gia the person. And that's probably the highest honor a film like this can bestow upon its subject.

Vick's Video Picks

For those who missed my previous raves about this one on the WOW message boards, or anyone looking for more great work by Angelina Jolie, check out "Foxfire." Based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates, it tells the story of a quartet of teenage girls (Hedy Burress, Jenny Shimizu, Jenny Lewis and Sarah Rosenberg) whose lives are forever changed when a mysterious young woman (Jolie) drifts into their town and teaches them how to stand up for themselves. A female-bonding movie without the flowery sentiment common to that genre, it does for the under-eighteen set what "Thelma & Louise" did for women over thirty. It also contains another terrific character brought to life in Jolie's capable hands, and a farewell scene that yet again demonstrates her canny ability to act without words.

Vickie, a self-confessed movie addict, has spent the last few years working at an entertainment magazine in Canada. When she's not toiling away at her computer in the office, she's toiling away at her computer at home-- hacking away at unfinished screenplays and planning her acceptance speech for the Academy Awards.