Gia

A film about a woman's meteoric rise to fame, made shortly before Jolie's own career went stratospheric, this is a widely overlooked production that shows the incredible breadth of the actor's talent. In Gia, Jolie flows expertly between damaged innocent, confident rebel, desperate addict, and lost soul. Before eventually bringing great emotional depth to her final scenes of fading life. Though a dramatized version of the supermodel's life, characters talking directly to camera in interview settings and excerpts from Gia's diary lend the film a documentary feel in places that serves to remind viewers that this tragedy was real. And it very much plays like a tragedy -- tough going in places but with enough energy and intensity to propel it forward toward the inevitable end.

Unsteady camerawork and lingering close-ups on Jolie's frenetic features reflect Gia's mental state and tell the story in a stylish way. A kind of soft-core lens on some of the intimate same-sex scenes feels unnecessary and borderline sleazy in places. But despite these misgivings, overall the film hits hard, is perfectly cast, and smoothly structured to tell the cautionary tale of a fascinating figure.