Art School Confidential (DVD, 2006)

Artist and writer Daniel Clowes has garnered some impressive acclaim for the collection of social misfits and oddballs he lovingly etches into the pages of his comicbook EIGHTBALL. In 2001 Clowes teamed up with director Terry Zwigoff (CRUMB) to bring one of his stories to life--the long-running strip GHOST WORLD. ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL finds Clowes and Zwigoff reconvening once again, this time for a satirical stab at the willfully pretentious denizens of the art-school world. Max Minghella stars as Jerome Platz, a full-lipped, charcoal-eyed freshman who dreams of making it big in the art world. Jerome takes classes at the Strathmore Institute from Professor Sandiford (John Malkovich), a terrible hack whose lack of talent and taste is mirrored in his own wretchedly pompous works. But as Sandiford scoffs at Jerome's natural ability and passes him over in favor of the talentless jock Jonah (Matt Keeslar), our young hero cares less and less as he delves into a blinkered infatuation with a model named Audrey (Sophia Myles). Clowes doubtless drew on his own art-school experiences to craft many of the characters for Zwigoff's movie, and viewers from a similar background will likely want to hide their eyes as a painful parade of highly affected youths litters the screen. Steve Buscemi, Jim Broadbent, and Angelica Huston make fleeting appearances, and a subplot about a serial killer breaks up the central narrative. Although Zwigoff and Clowes don't quite nail their characters as cohesively as they did with GHOST WORLD, the film does provide plenty of laughs, delightfully cocking a filmic snook at what can often be a very self-absorbed institution.