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Ghost World
Actors:
Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson,
Steve Buscemi
Directors: Terry Zwigoff
Format: color, closed-captioned, widescreen, dolby
Rated:
(Not for sale to persons under age 18.)
Studio: Mgm/Ua Studios
DVD Release Date: February 5, 2002
Buy Now
Run Time: 111 min
Synopsis: If
you've ever felt alienated by the world around you, Ghost
World will offer laughter, tears, and reassurance that
you are definitely not alone. Adapted by Daniel Clowes and
Crumb director Terry Zwigoff from Clowes's acclaimed
graphic novel, the movie spends summer vacation with high
school graduates Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlet
Johansson). They inflict little tortures on the denizens of
urban sprawl, wielding scathing irony as a defense against a
"ghost world" full of pop-cultural lemmings and uncertain
futures.
Review By Blake
French
- See it or die!
For those of us who tire of standard teen movies, here's the film to brighten
our day. It's a monkey wrench in the cranks of the tedious genre that features
actors in their mid-twenties portraying stereotypical high-school characters
shamelessly indulging predictable plots of frivolous romance. Where most movies
set in high schools find resolve in romantics, "Ghost World" dares to be
different.
Yet it contains all the usual ingredients-aimless main characters,
one-dimensional side characters, high school graduation, moronic parents, sexual
revelations, a romance-but it tastes different. This movie doesn't believe high
school is the root of youth complications; it knows that school isn't where the
confusion lies-it's after graduation when the complexities begin.
The movie opens as a high school senior dances along with a music video. Sounds
like a typical teenager? Well, not really. The music this girl listens to isn't
exactly mainstream. Nothing about Enid (Thora Birch from "American Beauty") is
ordinary.
The same goes for her best friend, Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson). She is slightly
more focused than the aimless Enid, but, as they graduate from high school in
the opening scenes, neither of them know what they want out of life.
Rebecca and Enid find interesting people to follow, exploit, and embarrass, just
for their own leisure, but even this loses its edge. Making the most (or least)
of their situation, the girls stumble upon an outstandingly pathetic personal
ad. As a joke, they respond. However, when they meet this man, Enid becomes
infatuated with him.
In their post high school days, Enid and Rebecca find themselves slowly drifting
apart. Rebecca is eager to get an apartment and get on with her life, while Enid
lives by the day, following one infatuation after another. As their attitudes
gradually change from cynical to sober, Enid and Rebecca's emerging differences
become blatantly obvious, but painfully realized.
"Ghost World" refers to the world in which these characters live, a town slowly
being overcome by shopping malls and coffee shops; a town that slowly loses its
distinctions and becomes a ghost of what it once was.
My small town of Mason, MI speaks for itself. Once a minuscule farming suburb of
the state's capital, it's now a breeding ground for new subdivisions, factories,
stores, gas stations, trailer parks, and businesses. Before you know it, it will
be a densely populated city like the capital itself.
"Ghost World" makes harsh points, but it never loses its sense of humor. Enid is
so full of bitter cynicism that we have to laugh. She indulges the dialogue.
It's often tactlessly frank, savoring every opportunity to bash, thrash,
ridicule, or insult anyone or anything for any reason.
Society tends to repress our caustic desire to insult a fellow man, but "Ghost
World" doesn't hesitate. It takes a lot of risks, but never steps in the wrong
direction. It connects us with these characters. They are so casually antisocial
that we can't help but to love them. At times, the movie doesn't require
dialogue. It simply examines the character's surroundings. We get to know these
people so well, we know exactly what they're thinking before they say it. They
are a part of our instincts to react on impulse.
But a character is only as good as the actor behind it. "Ghost World" features
enormously engaging performances. Brad Renfro gives his nobody store clerk a raw
blandness. Illeana Douglas injects a kind of controlled eccentricity into her
role as an art teacher. Steve Buscemi creates a hopeless record player collector
out of repressed emotion, and lack thereof.
Scarlett Johansson gives Rebecca a dry, depressed mood. Thora Birch steals the
whole show with a straightforward, fearless performance. Although the movie
never defines the relationship between Enid and Rebecca, the actors themselves
make it clear. They create an enticing charisma that gradually turns to an
awkward tension.
"Ghost World" captures part of our journey from childhood to adulthood with
poetic grace and cynical wit. Though it's not really a coming-of-age film, where
a young character finally takes a place in the world. Enid never finds her
place, decides her future, or chooses a path. By the end of the story, she
simply becomes aware of her possible options. This movie is just the beginning
of her story.
We would love to know what you think, sound off on the
movie message boards and let us know how you liked the movie!
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