SNMR 8.11: "Ghost World"

GREEN'S "I TOTALLY, TOTALLY HATE YOU" REVIEW:

Best friends and social misfits Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) have just graduated from high school and have no idea what they want to do next. Especially Enid, who has to take an art appreciation summer school class for failing art. They both decide that they do not want to go to college. One day they read a really pathetic sounding ad in the personals section of the paper and jokingly decide to answer it as a prank. When they see Seymour (Steve Buscemi), the dweeb who wrote it, they don't let him know who they are, letting him think he's been stood up. Some time after Enid and Seymour meet again and become friends. Then the one time prank turns in a way that no one expected.

I must confess that I was not aware that this movie originated from a graphic novel, nor had I ever heard of this movie before. The only reason I borrowed it from the library is because it has Scarlett Johansson in it and I've become a huge fan of hers lately. That Steve Buscemi was in it too was a bonus. He's not your prototypical Hollywood actor but still very good here. The only other movie I can recall seeing Thora Birch in is American Beauty. Birch and Johansson have a good on screen chemistry and are convincing as best friends. The supporting cast, specifically Douglas and Balaban, is good.

Terry Zwigoff doesn't have much directing experience but overall he does a good job with this movie. It has reasonably good pacing and doesn't sag for long too often. I like the fact that author Daniel Clowes co-wrote the screenplay with Zwigoff, which makes it a stronger movie.

I liked how this movie ends, even though it didn't really end like I thought it might.

The DVD extras include some short deleted scenes, a short "making of" feature and the full 1965 music video featured at the beginning of the film that Enid is dancing to.

This is not a movie that I can see owning but was worthwhile to watch as a freebie from the library.

*** out of *****

Ghost World (2001, R, 111 minutes), starring Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Bucemi, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas and Bob Balaban. Based on the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. Screenplay by Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff. Directed by Terry Zwigoff.