Ghost World – United States/United Kingdom/Germany – 2001 – Comedy, Drama
Directed by: Terry Zwigoff
Written by: Daniel Clowes; Terry Zwigoff
Main Players: Thora Birch; Scarlett Johansson; Steve Buscemi; Illeana Douglas; Brad Renfro; Stacey Travis; David Cross
As a student gives a speech at graduation about high school being like a bicycle with the training wheels for life, Enid (Birch) is unsure what to make of that bullshit. Her bestie Rebecca (Johansson) laughs about it with her before a trio of other students break into a dance rap.
Enid has to take a summer school art class, otherwise her degree will be held back. Ugh. At the graduation party that evening, the girls pitch snark at everything they see and make plans not to go to college. Over the next few days, the friends go about their summer doing offbeat oddball things and making dark comments. As Enid discovers an eccentric personal ad in the weekly newspaper placed by a man named Seymour (Buscemi), the girls decide to call the number and pretend to be the “striking blonde” noted in the description.
This sets off a wild journey of hard to anticipate events and self-discovery. Will Enid learn enough to pass her summer art class of pretension? What will happen when she, Rebecca and their convenience store working pal Josh (Renfro) go to spy on Seymour? Will anything change the girls’ defiant outlook on life, or are their attitudes here to stay?
Ghost World is based on a graphic novel, which is translated to the screen very well partly through a script by the same author. It brings a quirky and odd atmosphere to life with pessimistic yet relatable characters and plenty of comedic moments. There are some nice friendships formed despite the sarcasm displayed relatively non-stop, and it’s hard to know what will happen next.
The cast is pretty good and well rounded, especially the two main stars who crush it as angsty and mocking teens. The side actors get enough screen time to breathe life into their characters, and there are some gems to discover there also. The technical merits are sound and the film is well put together with a nice overall flow. If you like wry humor, this will probably work for you.
"This is so bad it’s gone past good and back to bad again."
There is also a post-credits scene.
See This If You Liked:
Booksmart; Heathers; Election (1999); Welcome to the Dollhouse; The Spectacular Now; American Beauty; Rushmore; The Edge of Seventeen (2016); The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Score:
7.5