Gia

The combination of her performance and beauty made Gia Angelina Jolie’s breakout performance and she totally deserved it. Jolie is downright exceptional in this. The film itself is god but the only thing worth mentioing in detail is Jolie’s performance.

Gia is the true story of Gia Carangi who might’ve been America’s first supermodel, depending on who you ask.  Carangi was also known for pioneering what would become lesbian fashion staples and having a problem with drugs that lead to her early death by AIDS at age 26.

Gia has good source material to work with as the real Carangi was a fascinating person. The script is solid, capturing Carangi’s essence and painting a sympathetic but unflinching portrait of a troubled, beautiful woman.

What really makes this movie is the performances. Jolie’s performance is brilliant as are that of co-stars Faye Dunaway and Elizabeth Mitchell. None of them shine the way Jolie does in this movie but they manage to keep up with her which is itself an achievement.

The only thing I’m not really a fan of in this movie is the score. It has a very horn-heavy jazz-esque soundtrack that doesn’t fit with the rest of the movie and I found distracting. But hey, Elizabeth Mitchell and Angelina Jolie both do nude scenes and have sex with each other so I’m not really that concerned about the score.

Gia is a good film about a woman who happens to be gay but has a life outside of that identifier. Her queerness is rather incidental in this movie in a way that I really enjoy. Much I like lesbians, her fondness for women was not the most fascinating thing about Gia Carangi. Overall, Gia a good biopic with a great lead performance.

Overall rating: 8.2/10

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