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.
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
