Reviewed April 2012Though treads on a familiar path, never come across a teen movie with so much wit and introspection into teen angst and all of this done in a surprisingly lighter tone. Enid (Thora Birch) and Becky (Scarlett Johansson) are childhood friends who just finished high school and are planning to move into an apartment. Both are mischievous and rebellious, Enid more than Becky and decides to call on a personal ad what seemed to be from a lonely man. They ask the ad placer to come to a specific restaurant and enjoy the disappointment of the man one Seymour (Steve Buscemi) who waits and leaves. Enid gets interested in Seymour and gets to know him and becomes friends. On her personal front, she is conflicted with her own ideas and makes some poor decisions making her lose the scholarship, Becky, Seymour's friendship and a chance to move into the apartment. How she copes with all this forms the entire story. Without knowing anything about the movie the initial 15 minutes hinted this as a girl version of Superbad. It changes soon getting more intimate on what is happening in a teenager's mind who is resorting to pride when there is a feeling of being left out. Scarlett Johansson looks stunning but she does not have a lot of role here as Thora Birch is the star. Though there is no scope here for great acting, she does a terrific job portraying the troubled teenager. The director deals with this delicate subject with steady and confident hands never toning down the spirit of a teenager. Buscemi does his character with ease as a lonely weird stranger.Never boring or awkward (as most teenage movies tend to), tells a simple story in the most effective way it is possible to.

I'd heard much about this film but never got to watch it until finally now. Supposedly a class graphic novel, I've never managed to get round to reading it. This film has piqued my interest.Thora Birch is the real central character of this film as we follow 'Enid' round her hometown as she falls for a far older man (Seymour) who is socially awkward. Enid is partnered by her friend Rebecca, and both have a dark sense of humour and pray cruel pranks to get their kicks. They're outsiders in their world, and seem almost nihilistic. Apathy rules, but Enid's burgeoning friendship with Seymour seems to release pent up emotions in Enid, riding from caring & love to jealously & loss.I'm very surprised by this mostly low budget movie. It's sassy and interesting, and will bring back long past memories. The characters feel too real to us all, and maybe we see some of our past lives in them.There is little to be negative about this movie. It balances many aspects to mull over without shoving them in your face, and for the most part avoids condescending small times stereotypes & clichés.I liked it a lot, I'd recommend it to all, whether they be young or old. Give it a try.

Ghost World is an indie film about two young girls who have just graduated high school. They are deciding what to do next, hanging out, and messing with strangers. This movie starts out extremely strong, focusing on the dialog between Thora Birch and Scarlet Johannson, who play it cool and hang strong. About a third of the way in, the movie begins to veer off to focus more on Enid and her interactions with a middle aged loner named Seymour. Whereas the writing felt naturalistic early in the film, it gets pretty hard to buy the relationship between Seymour and Enid, and the story eventually deflates. The ending felt more like the filmmakers ran out of ideas than actual symbolism, and it left me hanging. However, I still watch many scenes of this movie over--the ironic humor hits perfectly more than a couple times. Some viewers have criticized this movie for being depressing, and things do go badly for several of the characters, but for me the only thing that is truly depressing is Enid's relationship with her father. Some of the things the characters go through are lessons they can emerge stronger from, but I don't imagine things improving between her and her dad. However, if Daniel Clowes were to write a followup looking at where the characters went later in life, I would certainly read it as soon as possible.

Considering the quality of the cast, the lack of cohesion in the interaction between them must have been quite hard to achieve, barely any interaction between Birch and Johansson had any fluidity or credibility to it.The lead character was weak, and is based on a very shallow and cold angst that would be a brief phase at most, her friendship had an even less believable foundation and with the exception of Steve Buscemi's character and performance, the entire film reminded me of cheap porn, without any of the sex scenes.Ironic is about the only thing I can say for this, though I doubt it was trying to be. It constantly took digs at the world of the arts, and yet it is only this world that will appreciate this style of film. I expect good reviews, as to give something like this a poor one would probably be considered uncultured in such circles. When it ended, or didn't as the case pretty much was (the pseudo ending 5 minute shorter would have been better), I was glad, solely as it was over.