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Movies / On DVD / Art School Confidential
Art School Confidential

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Art School Confidential (2006)

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Reviews Counted:131

Fresh:47

Rotten:84

Average Rating:5.4/10

Consensus: Art School's misanthropy is too sour, its targets too flat and cliched, and Clowes and Zwigoff stumble when trying to build a story around the premise.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language including sexual references, nudity and a scene of violence.

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:00-00-0000

Synopsis: "Art School Confidential" follows a talented young artist Jerome Platz (Max Minghella) as he escapes from high school to a tiny East Coast art school. Here the boyish freshman's ambition is to... "Art School Confidential" follows a talented young artist Jerome Platz (Max Minghella) as he escapes from high school to a tiny East Coast art school. Here the boyish freshman's ambition is to become the world's greatest artist, like his hero Picasso. Unfortunately, the beauty and craft of Jerome's portraiture are not appreciated in an anything-goes art class that he finds bewildering and bogus. Neither his harsh judgments of his classmates' efforts or his later attempts to create pseudo-art of his own win him any admirers. But Jerome does attract the attentions of his dream girl — the stunning and sophisticated Audrey (Sophia Myles) — an artist's model and daughter of a celebrated artist. Rejecting the affectations of the local art scene, Audrey is drawn to Jerome's sincerity. When Audrey shifts her attentions to Jonah (Matt Keeslar), a hunky painter who becomes the school's latest art star, Jerome is heartbroken. Desperate, he concocts a risky plan to make a name for himself and win her back. Filling out Jerome's world are a host of offbeat characters, including: a quirky art teacher (John Malkovich) who takes an extra-curricular interest in Jerome; a failed artist (Jim Broadbent), drowning in alcohol and self-pity; a regal art history professor (Anjelica Huston) Jerome tries to influence; a coffee shop owner-cum-art impresario (Steve Buscemi) swelling with self-importance; a worldly classmate (Joel David Moore), who introduces Jerome in the intricate mores of campus life; and Jerome's filmmaker roommate (Ethan Suplee), exploding with energy to create a cinematic masterpiece. United Artists and Sony Pictures Classics present Terry Zwigoff's "Art School Confidential," starring Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Matt Keeslar, Steve Buscemi and Anjelica Huston. The film is produced by Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich and Russell Smith, partners in the production company Mr. Mudd, which also produced "Ghost World." Based on Daniel Clowes' short comic story of the same name, "Art School Confidential" is directed by Zwigoff from a screenplay by Clowes. --© Sony Pictures Classics [More]

Starring: Max Minghella, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Ezra Buzzington

Starring: Max Minghella, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Ezra Buzzington, Sophia Myles, Matt Keeslar, Anjelica Huston, Steve Buscemi, Adam Scott, Nick Swardson, Paul Collins, Roxanne Hart

Director: Terry Zwigoff

Director: Terry Zwigoff
Screenwriter: Daniel Clowes
Producer: Russell Smith, Daniel Clowes
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Reviews for Art School Confidential

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Zwigoff's angry exposé of this intense, tiny subculture isn't fair to anyone in the art world, but if you can stomach the overstatement, it's often scathingly funny. And it's sometimes scathingly smart.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
05/12/06
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Less satisfying overall than it could have been, it nonetheless boasts a sublime cynicism and just enough of a twinkle in its metaphorical eye to let most of us in on the joke

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/10/06
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Curiously, this relentlessly cynical tone turns out sounding refreshingly original compared to the usual pieties in the genre.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
07/12/06
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

These characters are dead-on stereotypes.

Full Review Source: Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) | comment Comment
01/25/06
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)

The best elements of the film rest in Minghella's personal coming-of-age journey and in the wonky personality that the Zwigoff-Clowes collaboration brings to the screen.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
05/05/06
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

A low-key satire of the consensual illusion of art world success, Art School Confidential deftly evokes the peculiar, funny-sad heartbreak of the aspiring genius.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/05/06
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a ruckus, veering from one picaresque episode to the next in its eagerness to debunk Hollywood clichés and art world stereotypes, but I prefer untidy novelty to paint-by-numbers storytelling any day.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
05/11/06
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

Zygoff and Clowes do get the most out of their first-rate cast and prove that hollow laughs are far superior to no laughs at all.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
05/21/06
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com

...a cartoonish valentine to youthful dreams of self-expression...

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
05/12/06
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

...generally comes off as nothing less than a substantial disappointment.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
10/13/06
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

A satisfyingly bilious satire.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
01/31/06
Dennis Lim
Dennis Lim
Village Voice

An inspired work.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/21/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Enjoyable and reprises the same dyspeptic attitude that infused Ghost World, but ultimately it lacks its predecessor's originality and humanity.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/11/06
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

Its final shot is a beautiful masterstroke of the separation and desire involved in personally connecting with a piece of art and is the kind of frame-worthy moment that more students should be learning about.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/02/06
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

Messy, squalidly funny

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/30/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

[Director Terry] Zwigoff and [writer Daniel] Clowes take great joy in skewering the pretensions of the art world.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
05/12/06
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

A comedy about a young man's wild quest to become the greatest artist in the 21st century.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
05/04/06
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Almost as much satiric fun as 'Thank You for Smoking.'

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
05/02/06
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Art School Confidential is replete with humorous detail -- in that respect, the student art projects are particularly fine -- but it's the attitude that rules.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
05/02/06
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice

Art School Confidential shows the kind of backbone needed by limp parodies like Thank You for Smoking and American Dreamz.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
05/03/06
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Latest News for Art School Confidential

September 14, 2007: Zwigoff, Clowes to Assemble $40,000 Man
The creative duo responsible for Ghost World and Art School Confidential has found its next project. More...

August 27, 2007: Video Exclusive: Sophia Myles talks Hallam Foe with RT
We chat to the supremely lovely British actress about her latest role in David Mackenzie's new film. More...

May 14, 2006: Box Office Wrapup: "Mission: Impossible 3" Beats "Poseidon" to Remain at #1
Tom Cruise's spy sequel Mission: Impossible III remained the most popular film in North America for the second straight weekend while the big-budget disaster film Poseidon... More...

May 07, 2006: Box Office Wrapup: "Mission: Impossible III" Big, But Not Huge at #1
Tom Cruise climbed into his usual number one spot at the box office with his heavily-hyped spy sequel Mission: Impossible III, however ticket sales fell below most industry... More...

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