Review of Ghost World (2001) by Stuart K — 02 Sep 2011

Based upon Daniel Clowes' cult comic book, and brought to the screen by Terry Zwigoff (Crumb (1994) and Bad Santa (2003)), this is a weird but amusing comedy-drama about two girls outside of the social pecking order of high school.

It's got a very offbeat look at life, and a good little ensemble to it's name, and eccentric characters too. It has best friends Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), who have just graduated from High School, but now it's the summer, and are looking to what happens next.

Although they are both social outcasts, Rebecca is just a little bit more popular than Enid, who isn't into anything alot of the other graduates like, and Enid is given her graduation, on condition she takes a summer arts class led by Roberta (Illeana Douglas).

However, they both see in a local newspaper a personal ad from a lonely man named Seymour (Buscemi), who is looking for a woman he met. They meet him at a garage sale, and Enid strikes up a good friendship, and Enid sets about helping Seymour to find a woman, but the friendship between Enid and Rebecca is put to the test when Enid can't hold a job while Rebecca can.

It's a very weird, alienating look at teenage life, it has good performances in it, and Zwigoff should be making more films, he shows great confidence here. Oh, and the song Jaan Pehechan Ho by Mohammed Rafi will stay in your head for ages after the film ends.