Dir. Terry Zwigoff

Starring Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich etc.

Harassed teen boy Jerome (Minghella) finally gets out of high school hell and gets to follow his dream of becoming the world’s greatest artist.

However, all is not well at the Strathmore Institute where Jerome enrolls. Many teachers have stopped caring, and many students are knee-deep in pretentious bullshit. And there’s also the little detail of a serial killer on the loose. As a result the school atmosphere isn’t as chill as he’d have hoped, and he has to find new ways to be creative and compete.

Art School Confidential is written by Daniel Clowes, who wrote Ghost World and the comic book it was based on. Terry Zwigoff was the director then too, and it seems they enjoyed the work and the result, since they’re pairing up to dance again. The result is not as good this time, if a direct comparison is to be made, but the movies are not really in the same genre. While you could say Ghost World went for “melancholic comedy about cross-generational friendship”, Art School Confidential is less easily defined. It’s a satire, and it’s at times good at it. It’s a murder mystery, but it’s not very mysterious. Most of all it’s about expectations and dreams, and how realizing them can be harder if you need to stay in control, instead of letting things happen. Well, it tries to be.

If you only watch it for the funny, it’s probably gonna satisfy you. The trailer is hilarious, and the movie resembles that remark.

This is His review, you can read Her review here.

Keywords: Art, Satire, Quirky