I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

R

Released Jul 14, 1977

1h 36m

Drama

List

40%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

54%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Pretty and privileged Deborah (Kathleen Quinlan) is, at the age of 16, a borderline schizophrenic who spends most of her waking hours in a bizarre fantasy realm. After a failed suicide attempt, she lands in a mental institution, where the hostile environment threatens to destabilize her condition even further. It's only through the focused attention of the sympathetic Dr. Fried (Bibi Andersson) that Deborah is gradually able to distinguish between dreams and reality again.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

This is difficult material to bring to life, but a young actress named Kathleen Quinlan does it with heart and sensitivity.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 23, 2004

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

"Rose Garden" is very strange upon final analysis: the secular version of a religious film. Without blind faith one cannot believe in miracles. [Full review in Spanish]

Jun 9, 2022

Full Review

Marina Hirsch

Berkeley Barb

Rose Garden falls into the same trap as did Cuckoo's Nest, cashing in on the easy humor and inherently intense drama of mental illness, while slickly bypassing the corrosive aftereffects of its force.

May 12, 2021

Full Review

Bernard Drew

Gannett News Service

The result is a choppy, unwieldy, episodic hodgepodge, which despite its moving and powerful potential never succeeds.

Oct 17, 2019

Full Review

Scott Weinberg

DVDTalk.com

An autobiographical tale of attempted suicide, horrific schizophrenia, and frequent trips to a rather unpleasant mental hospital.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 7, 2006

Full Review

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Nicholas R

Kathleen Quinlan gives a stellar performance for which she received a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination. Both vulnerable and exuberant, she is totally captivating. Supported by strong performances from the other leads. I know the Iria natives are cliché but remember that this is a teen girl's fantasy, not a National Geographic documentary! The story is based on a semi-autobiographical novel and is both creative and bold. Underrated.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/02/23

Full Review

Rich M

Unlike "Cuckoo's Nest" this film is based on a semiautobiographical account of mental illness and recovery. The patient's history includes early-life trauma and may fit modern definitions of CPTSD or BPD with psychotic features better than schizophrenia, but this, unlike many other psychiatric films depicts an actual case history, relayed by the recovered patient herself. The vivid world that the patient dissociates into may seem odd, but for someone with vivid internal imagery (high VVIQ), this may make a lot of sense. I recommend that you don't judge the film, just try to learn from it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Unsettling and slightly melodramatic, Anthony Page's film that explores schizophrenia and the attendant therapist/patient dynamics, is mostly successful due to Kathleen Quinlan's convincing portrayal of a teenager struggling through mental illness. Excellent supporting work by Susan Tyrell, and several notable early screen appearances, including Dennis Quaid, Mel Gibson, and Oingo Boingo.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

steve d

The Acting is good enough to make it work.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Watched this after reading the book. It's a movie from the 70s and it shows. The other-worldliness of her hallucinations is substituted by white in indigenous-esque costumes doing pointless rituals. Her Jewishness is entirely erased. The actors are good and it does portray some of the important parts of the story, but better to read the book and skip the movie. I could see some interesting influences this film had on later media that take place in mental hospitals ie: Girl Interrupted, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An autobiographical tale of attempted suicide, horrific schizophrenia, and frequent trips to a rather unpleasant mental hospital. and another example of the song being better or lasting longer than the movie

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Anthony Page

Director

Kathleen Quinlan

Deborah Blake

Bibi Andersson

Dr. Fried

Reni Santoni

Hobbs

Susan Tyrrell

Lee

Diane Varsi

Sylvia

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Synopsis

Pretty and privileged Deborah (Kathleen Quinlan) is, at the age of 16, a borderline schizophrenic who spends most of her waking hours in a bizarre fantasy realm. After a failed suicide attempt, she lands in a mental institution, where the hostile environment threatens to destabilize her condition even further. It's only through the focused attention of the sympathetic Dr. Fried (Bibi Andersson) that Deborah is gradually able to distinguish between dreams and reality again.

Director: Anthony Page
Producer: Daniel H. Blatt, Roger Corman
Screenwriter: Gavin Lambert, Lewis John Carlino, Joanne Greenberg
Distributor: New World Pictures
Production Co: Fadsin Cinema Associates
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 14, 1977, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2018
Runtime: 1h 36m

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