Thora Birch, Scarlett Johanassen, Steve Buscemi, and Illeana Douglas star in
this indie comic turned indie film. Ghost World follows a recent
high-school graduate Enid (Birch) and the strange things she does to pass
the time including: taking a summer-school art class, harassing people from
Personals Ads in the newspaper, harassing the employee of a convenience
store, and tracking Satanists. Writer Daniel Clowes and director Terry
Zwigoff have managed to craft the most genuine and touching film I have seen
this year. The wonderfully honest performances from the stars combine with
the creators' skills to present the sort of character and story a viewer
could easily identify with. The realistic (and sometimes depressing) sets
and costumes create a strong sense of reality while making the film's
satiric qualities all the more humorous. The talented cast sometimes
accurately depicts everyday people and sometimes hacks them apart with the
ugly and oftentimes funny truths of humanity. Sarcasm and satire usually
numb an audience, distance them from the film, and therefore prevent them
from taking the story seriously. Ghost World expertly avoids this with
sporadic displays of genuine warmth and emotion. Buscemi, Birch, and
Douglas have never been funnier, and the dryness of Johanassen definitely
has its moments. Over time, I can definitely see Ghost World becoming a
cult favorite as the coming of age film for people who would roll their eyes
at the term "coming of age film."
