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Dom Robinson reviews

Ghost World

Accentuate the negative.


Viewed at
UCI Filmworks, Manchester City Centre

picture

  • Cert:
  • Running time: 111 minutes
  • Year: 2001
  • Released: 16th November 2001
  • Widescreen Ratio : 1.85:1
  • Rating: 8/10


Director:

    Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Ghost World, Louie Bluie)

Producers:

    Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich and Russell Smith

Screenplay:

    Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff

Original Score :

    David Kitay

Cast :

    Enid: Thora Birch
    Rebecca: Scarlett Johansson
    Seymour: Steve Buscemi
    Josh: Brad Renfro
    Roberta Allsworth: Illeana Douglas
    Enid's Dad: Bob Balaban
    Dana: Stacey Travis
    Norman: Charles C. Stevenson Jr
    Melorra: Debra Azar
    Maxine: Teri Garr


Ghost World sounds like the title of another scary movie from across the pond, but it's not. Far from it, in fact. Adapted from a comic strip that I've never heard of before, it's a rich slice of Americana packed with humourous and/or intriguing moments as the cast go about their lives and we're allowed to dip in for that brief period of time as their paths cross and eventually go their separate ways again.

The film centres around Enid (American Beauty's Thora Birch), a young girl who has just graduated from college with her best friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson). They have no plans for the summer yet, but while the latter has already taken a job for the holidays, Enid has to spend part of hers suffering summer school for extra Art lessons with quirky teacher Roberta Allsworth (Illeana Douglas).

However, things take a decidedly different turn when they trick the provider of a lonely hearts column advert into thinking his dream date will be waiting for him in the cafe that they frequent and, together with their friend and convenience store clerk Josh (Brad Renfro), they sit and watch as a rather pathetic figure in the form of Seymour (Reservoir Dogs' Steve Buscemi) takes his place, drinks milkshakes and finally wanders off out again to continue his non-existence.



Enid and Rebecca with Norman,
the man waiting for the bus that never comes.


Little by little, Enid's fascination with Seymour grows and, in turn, this becomes engaging as we want to find out what will happen next as she feels bad for the trick player earlier - of which he has no knowledge - and attempts to find ways to make him happy in his own life, but of course there will be misunderstandings along the way since this is what life is based upon. However, to detail any of this would spoil the surprises, but it's safe to say that what occurs is never boring and, while this isn't a film that anyone would want to watch time and time again, it demands to be seen by everyone at least once.

The rest of the cast is made up of several memorable characters, even if their acts are short, including Enid's Dad (Bob Balaban), attempting to his daughter a job but how is this possible when she's not interested in the first place, the "striking blonde": Dana (Stacey Travis), Enid's potential new step-mom Maxine (an unrecognisable Teri Garr) and Norman (Charles C. Stevenson Jr), a rather confused old man who spends all day every day sat at the bus stop for which the service was discontinued two years ago.



Seymour on his lonesome.


The only sad thing about Ghost World is that it'll be largely ignored by the majority of the cinema-going public because it's far from a mainstream film, but as a result it won't be for everyone and it's not intended to be either. Those who do take interest and who take the trouble to check it out will be all the better off for it.

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2001.

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DVDfever.co.uk - Est. February 25th 2000

As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on:

  • Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
  • Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
  • Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
  • Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
  • Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
  • Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP