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 Ghost
World
Starring: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi,
Illeana Douglas, Josh Renfro, Bob Balaban ,Stacey Travis, Charles
C. Stevenson Jr,Dave Sheridan and Tom McGowan
Directed
by:
Terry Zwigoff
Writing
credits: Daniel Clowes
Rated: R
Ghost
World is one
of those rare films that you find yourself drawn into, but you
don't know why. The cast is certainly part of the reason it's
so enjoyable, as it's really a character driven piece with Steve
Buscemi "The King Of Characters" at the wheel. The film
is based on the underground comic book by Daniel Clowes of the
same name ( I have never seen, sorry) and simply has one of those
oddly elegant, simple, stories moving it along.
Ghost
World's just about a young "different" girl, Enid (Thora
Birch) and her prettier close friend, Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson),
who have just graduated from high school and though they're not
really the hippest cats in the milk crate, they'd tell
you otherwise. Their friendship strains as they start to do that
"G" word— grow up.
You're hooked from the first three frames.
The girls try to fill their days with a few dissipating attempts
at girlish pranks. One particularity cruel prank involves responding
to a sad lonely man's ad in the personals section of the LAWeekly.
They call Seymour (Steve Buscemi), and fix him up with a date
that is never coming. The girls, not really evil, just immature,
feel bad and follow him home from his anguishing blind date that
never happens...Bizarre, true, but they do it in a nice way.
Enid
gets closer to the man and actually starts to befriend the "geek"
learning people are not always what they appear to be on the outside.
Quite frankly the man was interesting and intelligent, obviously
a scripted character, not that I'm bitter...
The
audience watches as Rebecca conforms to adult life, by getting
an apartment, securing one of those "first" mundane
jobs, and steps into the way of oncoming adulthood. Enid fights
it, kicking and screaming. She chooses to ignore the paintings
all over the wall and clings to the things that we all experience
in those few awkward months after high school's over. Her world,
however, is not so keen on her decision and is moving forward
to the inevitable future with every tick of it's trendy faux fifties
diner clock on the wall tock.
Poor
Enid.
The
greatest thing about Steve
Buscemi is not the fact that he refuses to fix his barracuda
style teeth, no, it's the way he seems to choose his roles. I
can honestly say, I have never been disappointed with a movie
he's done. I own nearly every one, even Ed and His Dead Mother—
which I find hysterical.... Oh, right, Final
Fantasy doesn't count technically, that was just his voice...He
probably did that for his kid or something. He's forgiven.
Thora
Birch, GW's star, exploded on the scene in American Beauty, though
she's been working since she was four. She's a natural actress
and one I'm looking forward to seeing in the years to come. Hopefully,
she'll keep throwing in these interesting pieces between the rent
paying gigs. There's an award in here from someone...
 Dave
Sheridan who makes a couple of brief appearances as a mullet sporting
redneck with that over active red, white, and blue thyroid is
so funny I nearly smashed my cranium in the seat in front of me.
Illeana
Douglas has a small role as one of those free spirtited art teachers
everyone's met at one point. She's a brilliant actress who continually
turns in  strong,
memorable performances. She's almost a female Buscemi, not looks
wise, but in the quality of work she's produced and her ease of
diversification.
Ghost
World really is simple. You visit with the girls for a while and
learns a little about how their lives are heading, nothing more.
But it's the solid performances by Thora and Steve and the gaggle
of thespians beside them that make you wish there was another
couple of hours to enjoy. Odd huh? If you're a film person, not
so much a blockbuster junkie, you'll enjoy this. There's not one
chase scene and absolutely nothing blows up.
Official Site
Snack
Recommendation: Cook's Chicken and Champagne
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