his is 'teen comedy' of startling sophistication -- with horribly funny bits as well. A true original, with sharp humour, subtle detail and painfully realistic characters.
Ghost World (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:141
Fresh:130
Rotten:11
Average Rating:7.8/10
Consensus: An intelligent and comedic trip in teen angst.
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Terry Zwigoff finally follows up his 1994 breakout success, CRUMB, with this infectious, insightful, and ultimately sad look at teenage angst and boredom in suburbia that recalls such films as... Terry Zwigoff finally follows up his 1994 breakout success, CRUMB, with this infectious, insightful, and ultimately sad look at teenage angst and boredom in suburbia that recalls such films as WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE and RUSHMORE as well as MTV's excellent DARIA series. The screenplay, written by Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes, is based on Clowes's underground comic book, GHOST WORLD. Best friends Enid and Rebecca have graduated from high school, and now they need to figure out what comes next. Rebecca gets a menial job at a coffee shop and starts looking for an apartment, while Enid wallows in her miserable (Daria-like) worldview, in which all jobs are sellouts and nearly all people are creeps, geeks, and losers. But when she plays a practical joke on the biggest dud of them all, Seymour, a lonely man who lives only for his collection of classic 78s, her life gets turned upside as she finds herself needing him in ways she never thought possible. Thora Birch (Enid) and Steve Buscemi (Seymour) are nothing short of marvelous in their complex roles, and they receive ample support from Scarlet Johansson, Bob Balaban, Teri Garr, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas, and the great David Cross. The excellent soundtrack includes songs by Skip James, Blueshammer, the Buzzcocks, Lionel Belasco, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, and Mohammed Rafi, among others. Note to Buscemi fans: There's a small bit at the end of the credits, so stick around. [More]
Starring: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, David Cross
Starring: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, David Cross, Illeana Douglas, Teri Garr, Brad Renfro, Bob Balaban, Ezra Buzzington, Bruce Glover
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Screenwriter: Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff
Producer: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith
Composer: David Kitay
Studio: MGM/UA
Reviews for Ghost World
It isn't a perfect film, but it's never less than strikingly original.
Poignant, insightful, wryly humorous portrait of American teenage non-conformity -- a wonderful, distinctive film, with a great soundtrack and terrific performances from its three leads. One of the best films of the year.
Adeptly evokes the unbearable dullness of being 18, the precarious power play of female friendship, the torpor born from having to decide what 'other plans' you should make if you're not going to go to college.
Directed with a real sense of visual assurance by Zwigoff, the film looks great and is full of clever little touches that make it come to life.
For all its weirdness and weightless suburban ennui, this is actually a very plausible, understated account of late adolescent pain.
...satisfying in ways that more than compensate for the film's soft ending.
If more people appreciated stories like this, movies and comic books would be better off.
Based on Clowes' underground comic book, this is another tale of how the mediocrity of American subsurbs can suffocate its few creative denizens, all misfits of course, but it's extremely well acted by Steve Buscemi and Thora Birch .
Zwigoff makes Enid's neighborhood a truly strange and haunted place, where plastic people robotically follow their society's norms, and those who resist are left angry, alienated, and without any ideas for how to survive.
É interessante notar como duas amigas, inicialmente tão próximas em seu cinismo e em sua presunção, se distanciam gradualmente, embora pouca coisa mude além do universo colegial que as cercava.
There are bits of wicked humor, but Zwigoff begins by laughing at the kooks in Clowes' ghost of a world and never stops. The real crime is that Clowes is content to join in with him.
Zwigoff pulls off something in Ghost World that seems a minor miracle -- he creates someone with a complex inner life.
Another whiny white suburban teen chick anthem film, I thought. And then, I found myself pleasantly surprised that it was something more than that.
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