IT'S THE LATE 70'S IN NEW YORK - STUDIO 54, DESIGNER JEANS, DRUGS & DISCO. ONE GIRL IS LIVING LIFE IN THE FAST LANE. SHE CAN HAVE ANY MAN - OR ANY WOMAN - SHE WANTS. SEX, MONEY, GLAMOUR, FAME...IT'S ALL WITHIN HER REAC... more »H. SHE'S A GODDESS. SHE'S A STAR. HER NAME IS GIA.« less
Jill M. (Mason8775) from CHAUMONT, NY Reviewed on 6/12/2012...
I thought Angelina Jolie did an awesome job in this film. I highly recommend it!
2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Movie Reviews
Missing 6 Minutes
David E. Hill | 06/12/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is a terrific movie and I was thrilled to see Angelina Jolie playing this part, (I first saw her in Hackers). But in case you don't know this, the DVD is missing 6 minutes of the movie. the only way to have the extra 6 minutes is to have gotten the original release on VHS (or recorded in from HBO). After Angelina became more popular, 6 minutes of her nude scenes were deleted from later re-releases of the movie including this DVD. But it still is a good movie."
A Great Film - Wonderful Acting - Good Storytelling
turtlex | PA USA | 06/25/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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"
Gia - A tragic true tale!
K. Wyatt | St. Louis, MO United States | 01/02/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
""Gia" is quite simply the haunting but well told story of Gia Marie Carangi. Truth be told, I was not drawn to this movie at first because of the story, what drew me and I'm sure many others to it is the star Angelina Jolie. After her success in the Tomb Raider movies, I thought it would be interesting to see some of her past work, thus this movie became very interesting!Angelina Jolie performs admirably and brilliantly in this film, almost to perfection in what I'm sure is an even greater range in her talents. The depth of the character she portrays does compel you to the character despite already knowing the tragic outcome. Praise goes to Faye Dunaway and Mercedes Ruehl for their efforts in this film as well.This true life sad story is told well in the film; however, the director, Michael Cristofer, chose an almost cryptic style in which to tell the tragic story of Gia's life which, at times, detracts from the overall telling of the story. The score for the film does do well in what it's designed to do, augment the overall feel of the movie.The Premise:"Gia" is the overly tragic story of Gia Marie Carangi; a young and extremely beautiful woman from Philadelphia who suffered the break up of her parents at a young age and then in her late teens, a photographer stumbles upon her and not long thereafter the life of a supermodel overwhelms her. Incapable of dealing with separation of any form, she turns to drugs!What follows from there is a heart wrenching and very telling true life tragedy of what happened to this beautiful young woman.I would definitely recommend this HBO movie; one for the story itself and two for the exceptional performance by Angelina Jolie in this heartrending tale. {ssintrepid}Special Features:-Cast & Crew Bios
-Photo Gallery"
Another extraordinary performance by Angelina Jolie
K. Wyatt | 02/14/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In this intense and heartfelt film, Angelina Jolie captures the essence of the sad and turbulent spirit of Gia Marie Carangi, the fashion model who struggled with abandonment, fame and drug addiction. Elizabeth Mitchell is Linda, a character who represents several of Gia's relationships. She is an angelic "square" whose attempts to put Gia on the right track are constantly frustrated. Although the film takes some poetic license with this enduring love interest, it does provide us with an accurate glimpse of the kind of monogamous relationship Gia longed for but was unable to obtain. Faye Dunaway as Whilhelmina Cooper (Wilhelmina Models founder)and Mercedes Ruehl as Kathleen Sperr (Gia's mother) are wonderful. Ruehl has a complex character to portray. The movie will not win the modeling industry any new friends, and you'll think twice if you were planning on farming your daughter out to young miss fashion competitions. Angelina Jolie as Gia lets us learn from her mistakes and the movie leaves an indelible mark that cannot be airbrushed away."
Touching, Stunning, and Haunting
K. Wyatt | 05/14/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I read this book and found it unforgettable, and I love Angelina Jolie, so I was really looking forward to this. I was not dissapointed at all. Jolie is not only so beautiful she takes your breath away, but has real talent and star power. The casting was perfect, and Mercedes Ruehel was brilliant as usual. I don't care for Fay Dunaway but thought she was perfectly cast (though her teeth alarm me) Several scenes stand out--there's the one where she goes into the modeling agency, all punked-out and with an attitude. The snotty receptionist asks her name and she replies "Gia". The receptionist bitchily says, "G-what?" Gia pulls out her switchblade and carves the letters G-I-A right into the shocked receptionist's desktop. The scene where she does a photo shoot nude behind a chain link fence, but asks the blonde assistant she likes to join her in the shoot, is very sexy, beautifully shot and romantic. It gets pretty depressing towards the end when she's desperate for junk and sick, but that's what heroin does to you. (I lost a friend, who was also a model, to heroin several years ago--in fact I read the book the same weekend she overdosed). Though try as the makeup artists might, they just can't make Jolie look as terrible as she's supposed to. Jolie is so stunning it almost hurts to look at her in some of the scenes where she's dressed and made up to the nines. Many of the clothes are to die for (no pun intended) The last few scenes really made me cry, especially when Mercedes Rhuel (who plays her mother) starts crying while she's talking about her daughter's tragic end. Beautiful, haunting, and also thought provoking--yes, supermodels have miserable lives sometimes, despite their looks. And women, even if your boyfriend/husband doesn't want to watch it with you because he thinks it's a 'chick flick', tell him he'll love it, and I'm sure he will become *very* interested during the love scenes!"