Review: Ghost World (2001)

This is a Resurfaced review written in 2002 or earlier. For more information, please visit this link: Resurfaced Reviews.

Ghost World

Rating

Director

Terry Zwigoff

Screenplay

Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff (Comic: Daniel Clowes)

Length

1h 51m

Starring

Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas, Bob Balaban, Stacey Travis, Charles C. Stevenson, Dave Sheridan, Tom McGowan, Debra Azar

MPAA Rating

Review

A comic book about two rebellious teenagers who search for acceptance and love in all the wrong places becomes a sly, modestly twisted movie called “Ghost World.”

Thora Birch (“American Beauty”) and Scarlett Johansson (“The Horse Whisperer”) play Enid and Rebecca, the two defiant teens closing on their High School graduation. They are faced with the realities of having to get jobs and apartments to help support themselves. Rebecca shows her maturity by agreeing to move in with Enid and then immediately getting a job to support it.

Enid, however, finds that much of the work she can find doesn’t suit her idea of a good job and thus ends up fired, including from a movie theater for trying to convince patrons not to purchase their unhealthy foods. During this time period, at a garage sale, she meets Seymour (Steve Buscemi), a homely gentlemen who loves vintage records and enjoys introducing new people to them. They strike up a small friendship and Enid, without admitting it, seems to want a more stable, romantic relationship while Seymour wants only to be friends.

Enid progresses on a self-destructed route that leads to disappointment, both for her and for those that called her friend. “Ghost World” examines this detrimental track and its impact on the surrounding world.

Birch, whose work in “American Beauty” was excellent, took a fall when she appeared as the queen in the movie “Dungeons & Dragons.” “Ghost World” serves as validation that her previous work wasn’t a coincidence and that she made some bad decisions. Johansson, who last appeared in “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” has been following a path of moody youth portrayals that have not given her much range. This time around is no better. While she is quite adequate in her role, it is pretty standard from her history and shows us nothing new.

The true revelation of this film is notably bizarre actor Buscemi who has appeared in so many unusual roles has finally found a film that allowed him to stretch his legs. While the role is somewhat similar to those he’s played in the past, this one is far more dramatic and less peculiar.

In a world built on success, some people aren’t meant to make it. Enid is one of those people. She sees herself as a rebel and an intellectual. Much like the pseudo-intellectual youths of the modern generation, Enid holds up set of ethics that, while ideal, she forces on others. The film also doesn’t suggest that Enid is entirely incorrect. It is an examination of how several groups forge ethic standards that they uphold and force on others without listening to other viewpoints. Enid does the same and it takes several hard knocks before she understands the situation that faces her.

“Ghost World” is a modern allegory on the inert nature of our society, one built on differing ideas held by differing groups. Each one is set against change and with each interaction with another idea, the relationships become strained and bend towards the breaking point.

This kind of subtle moral isn’t as readily available to most audiences, but should appeal to the younger generation who are strapped with the burden of carrying society into a new century filled with strife, misery and great opportunity. “Ghost World” is a devilishly simple movie with a tough subtext that begs to be examined.