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Review

Art School Confidential begins as an enjoyable expansion of the art-class-critique-scenes from the filmmakers’ previous collaboration, Ghost World, and ends up a muddled examination of art’s place in modern society. Max Minghella stars as Jerome, the typical, modest, classical art-loving student who doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of his freshman class at Strathmore University. Max becomes acquaintances with a nihilistic repeat dropout who introduces him to the stereotypical students that surround them: the spiritual hippie, the angry lesbian, the back-to-school housewife. Screenwriter Daniel Clowes pulls these opening scenes straight out of his laugh-out-loud one-page comic strip of the same name, but the film’s similarities end there. The remainder of the film focuses upon Jerome’s frustrations in finding his own artistic voice amidst his quest to win over the heart of his muse. A subplot concerning a serial killer on campus, a familiar topic for Clowes, eventually comes to the forefront, allowing the film to delve deeper into the meaning of art and its worth as a topic of study. The film ends with a somewhat satisfying whimper that is unfortunately a world away from its beginning that promises another Ghost World.

The film’s problems lie in its off-kilter pacing and the script’s obvious reach for a plot beyond the true-to-life observations it's based upon. While the polite teases at art school students are great fun, the film maintains a certain degree of neutrality regarding the topics it explores. Whether this is done as to avoid offending its viewers or because the filmmakers themselves lack answers to the questions they pose is unknown, but there are a few choice jabs that play out particularly well. Once the police show up to investigate the on-campus murders, the students (of course) rebel against them, since they represent the establishment and all that. The absurdity of this rebellion against their protectors is justifiably exposed as is the possibility that the makers of art will never contribute to society in a manner as positive as those who protect the innocent.

The film’s stand-out cast includes the likes of John Malkovich as a washed-up art instructor, Steve Buscemi as a self-promoting gallery owner, and Ethan Suplee as the most typical of film majors (whose work provides many of the film’s memorable laughs). Minghella is very convincing in the role of the disillusioned young artist who learns that he must succumb to the evils of the art world in order to survive.

 -- Eric Bresler