Comic `World' of teenage angst
By MATT NANIA
Scene Movie Editor
After suffering through an endless parade of summer movies geared towards teenagers who like to have their "American Pie" spoon fed to them, along comes "Ghost World," an edgy, uncompromising, darkly comic film that defies tradition and convention.
Based on the comic book by Daniel Clowes, "Ghost World" puts the modern disenfranchised teen under a microscope, and what we see is a world filled with uncertainty and doubt.
Thora Birch, the former child actress who graduated to adult roles with full honors in "American Beauty," delivers a heartfelt, complex performance as Enid, a recent high school graduate who thinks she has her life and future all laid out.
When we first meet Enid, she and her best friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) are suffering through an endless graduation speech delivered by a classmate in a wheelchair. The edgy tone of the film is instantly established when the girls complain that the valedictorian was much more fun before she got drunk and had an automobile accident, ending up in the wheelchair.
Enid and Rebecca plan to get jobs, move in together and start their adult lives. That's the plan. Instead, Enid is shocked to learn that she has to attend summer school because she flunked — of all things — art. While Enid toils away in class, Rebecca ends up getting a job at a Starbucks rip-off.
Steve Buscemi enters the picture, playing a lonely, shy man named Seymour who collects old records and spends most of his time summoning the courage to ask women out. Enid and Rebecca meet Seymour when they answer one of his personal ads, stringing him along as a joke. Then Enid gets to know Seymour and suspects that she has found a soul mate.
As the two explore their new relationship, Rebecca finds herself pursuing the future the girls always talked about. The more we learn about Enid, the more we understand that she is destined to be alone. Her dark interior dialogues and inability to connect with people on a real, emotional level drives away most of the people in her life.
Enid wants independence, but still lives with her dad and her ex-stepmother. She wants acceptance, but is unwilling to embrace anyone or anything. She's passionate, but lacks conviction. She can't hold down a job for more than a day because she's not a people person. Maybe it's because people don't get her. But she thinks she knows exactly who she is and what she wants.
Birch is brilliant in her attempt at getting under the skin of her character. Enid is sort of an extension of the role she played in "American Beauty." As Kevin Spacey's distant daughter, Birch showed angst and confusion. As Enid, she explores an even darker side of teenage turmoil.
Steve Buscemi is extremely likeable as Seymour, a man who understands and accepts his limitations. When Enid and Seymour realize that they're not destined to be a couple, Enid tries to set him up with other women. Seymour immediately sets down the ground rules. He doesn't want someone who shares his interests because he finds himself uninteresting.
Perhaps that is what drew Enid and Seymour together in the first place. They are as different as night and day, but these opposites hold an attraction for each other that transcends conventional romance.
"Ghost World" benefits from brave performances, both in front of and behind the camera. Illeana Douglas shines as the summer school art teacher, a former hippie who knows more about free expression than art (at one point she praises a brown-noser student's "found art," which is nothing more than a tampon sticking out of teacup). Brad Renfro ("Sleepers") is also good as the convenience store clerk the girls love to tease and admire, another lost soul just trying to make it through the day.
The film is blessed to have director Terry Zwigoff at the helm, a man who isn't afraid to take chances. Zwigoff is one of those directors who never flinches, and there are times when "Ghost World" becomes so risky you appreciate having a director on board who can go the distance (Zwigoff's last film, the documentary "Crumb," was a warts-and-all look at comic artist Robert Crumb).
"Ghost World" may not be your typical teen flick, but that's its calling card. The film doesn't wrap things up in a pretty little bow with a conventional feel good ending. It's challenging, and any film and filmmaker that cares to lay down that challenge warrants respect and admiration.
If your tastes lean more towards "Election" and "Rushmore" than anything starring Shannon Elizabeth, then "Ghost World" will satisfy you with its audacity and daring. Look for it in Chicago-area theaters and on video in the future. -- Four shamrocks (out of five)
Contact Matt Nania at mnania@nd.edu.
All Scene Stories for Thursday, November 1, 2001
