Time: 126 Minutes
Cast:
Angelina Jolie as Gia Carangi
Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper
Mercedes Ruehl as Kathleen Carangi
Elizabeth Mitchell as Linda
Director: Michael Cristofer

Gia Carangi (Angelina Jolie) travels to New York City with dreams of becoming a fashion model. Within minutes of arriving, she meets Wilhelmina Cooper (Faye Dunaway), a wise and high-powered agent who takes Gia under her wing. With Cooper’s help and her own natural instincts, Gia quickly shoots to the top of the modeling world. When Cooper dies of lung cancer, however, Gia turns to drugs — and both she and her career begin to spiral out of control.

I didn’t know much about Gia going in, except that it’s a biopic starring Angelina Jolie. I liked it, it was better than I thought it would be. This is an ambitiously made biopic of famous 70s fashion

This is an ambitiously made biopic of famous 70s fashion model Gia Carangi. It focusses on her tragic rise and fall in the modelling and fashion industry, the drug addiction, her sexuality, and her relationships. I don’t know how close it is to the real life story, but I found it to be compelling nonetheless. Its depressing, but it was interesting to watch, and had a wild energy to it. That said it did feel like a TV movie in parts, especially with how overdramatic it gets.

The star is Angelina Jolie, giving one of her all time best performances. Its said that this is her breakthrough movie and I can see why. The movie shows a lot of Gia’s life and Jolie is compelling in the role. It’s worth watching it for her alone. Other performances are also great, especially Elizabeth Mitchell. 

Michael Cristofer’s direction is generally fine, though you do wish this wasn’t an HBO production. There are some great costume designs and makeup. However, some of the artistic choices don’t always work, and the editing can be a little rough and messy. The music in the background was a little cheesy and soapy too.

Gia is an ambitiously made, compelling, beautiful and heartbreaking biopic. Angelina Jolie gives a phenomenal and incredibly powerful performance, potentially her best.