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Ghost World
Movie: 9/10
It's rare to find a film so sly and intelligent. It's even rarer to find it in a genre generally known for occupying the heights of predictability and bad writing. Ghost World is a story of a teenager, Enid (Thora Birch), who has just graduated from high school and has no direction for the rest of her life. She and her best friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) are the smart outsiders. They hang together to shield each other from the stupidity around them, a running ironic commentary their weapon of choice. Graduation casts them out into the real world and Enid can't find her way while Rebecca starts to move on with life.
They come across Seymour (Steve Buscemi), a loner with highly specialized tastes. He and Enid become odd friends. They seem drawn together by their mutual loneliness and inability to connect with the world. The movie has a unique sense of humor and a sharp ear for realistic dialog. Take for example the art teacher that Enid is forced to suffer with, the sort of policially correct obsessive that tends to give art a bad name. Her speeches on the meaning of art tend to miss the point of Enid's own art which is keenly observant. The teacher is so intent on forcing a philosophy on her students that she ignores and almost squashes real artistic development.
It is populated with countless characters that just about everyone will recognize from their own life. This movie is subtle in its reproach of the overwhelming vanilla blandness that can at times dominate American culture. It's cynical but also sad and not in that manipulative tear jerking way. No, I mean this film finds a way to really zero in on the pain of loneliness. Thora Birch finds herself a role that is almost a sequel to her role in American Beauty, also a film that takes shots at an overly commercial and superficial culture. Steve Buscemi puts forth what may be the best performance of his career, which is a pretty impressive statement.
Great acting and sharp writing make this a must see in my book. Some may find it a bit too quirky but I suspect most will be happy they took a chance on it.
Video: 7/10
Widescreen. Everything looks fine.
Audio: 7/10
Dolby surround. The sound is adequate considering the film is primarily dialogue driven. However, it is also a movie that leans heavily on music so sharper sound would have been appreciated.
Extras: 6/10
Considering how great the movie is, the extras can only be considered a disappointment. There are a few deleted scenes, almost all of which really earned that status. There is a short making of featurette. There is a trailer for the movie plus trailers for other DVDs. Finally there is a clip from the movie that appears at the opening of the movie, motivating Enid's wild dancing. A commentary by director Terry Zwigoff and writer/creator
Overall: 8/10
The disc itself is nothing to get excited over but the movie is so good that it's hard to care too much.
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