Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9417 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-01-15
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish, Dutch, Hindi, Norwegian, Finnish, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Amazon.com
Bitter, misanthropic, yet sometimes blisteringly funny, Art School Confidential is not a movie for everyone. Jerome (Max Minghella, Bee Season) goes to art school in the hopes of having his genuine ability recognized and cherished--but instead, finds his teachers to be self-obsessed has-beens, his peers jaded and floundering, and himself being investigated for a series of gruesome stranglings. He becomes obsessed with a lovely student named Audrey (Sophia Myles, Tristan and Isolde), but she's more interested in hunky Jonah (Matt Keeslar, Splendor ), whose crude yet acclaimed paintings of cars and tanks make Jerome want to tear his own eyes out. The crime-thriller plot of Art School Confidential, however, is merely a contrivance to string together a series of caustic digs at the shallow, narcissistic, talentless hacks who go to art school in the vain hope of achieving fame, wealth, and sexual abundance with little or no effort. For most viewers, who want to think that people are largely well-intentioned and decent, this will seem snide and cruel; but for some viewers, who believe people are foolish and blinkered, Art School Confidential will seem like an oasis in the arid desert of lies and propaganda about the good side of human nature. If this is your movie, you know who you are, and I encourage you to seek it out as soon as possible. Directed by Terry Zwigoff (Bad Santa) and based on the work of cartoonist Dan Clowes; their previous collaboration was the much warmer Ghost World. Also featuring sharp turns from John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich), Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor), and Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge!). --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

Synopsis
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 favour of the talentless jock Jonah (Matt Keeslar), he cares less and less as he delves into a blinkered infatuation with a model named Audrey (Sophia Myles). 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 comic book 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. 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 litter the screen. Steve Buscemi, Jim Broadbent, and Angelica Huston make fleeting appearances, and a subplot about a serial killer breaks up the central narrative. ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL provides plenty of laughs, delightfully cocking a filmic snook at what can often be a very self-absorbed institution.

Customer Reviews

The Strathmore Strangler
From the creators of my personal favourite 'Ghost World', Terry Zwigoff and Daniel Clowes return with the cynical and caustic comedy 'Art School Confidential'. Max Minghella stars as a recent high school graduate, tackling his first time at Art School with the ambitions of becoming "the greatest artist of the 21st century." This young, naive freshman, looking for love and a rise to fame, learns that the world is out there to simply abate his enthusiasm and dreams. This is especially true when he learns that the art model he is in love with falls for what he considers an atrocious artist. Not only does this turn him to drinking and smoking, but most importantly drives him to betray his love for art and the characters around him. It is difficult to miss the crystal clear bitterness of writer/comic creator Daniel Clowes, and his affinity to the idolisation of the anti-hero. The mixture of contemptuous attitude and comedy is also accompanied by a humourous sub-plot about a serial killer on the Art School campus. Fans of Zwigoff will no doubt be satisfied with the clever writing and impressive set of cast members (Steve Buscemi, John Malkovich and Anjelica Huston), but it still probably won't live up to 'Ghost World' for you. Either way I would still recommend seeing it, but maybe as a rental first.

A compellingly bitter film sure to inspire a wide range of reactions
Substanceless substance. As I sit here trying to figure out how I can possibly even begin to review such an innovative, complex film as Art School Confidential, those are the words that come most prominently to mind. This film has a lot to say, especially about life and art (and most of it is pretty negative). I don't think it wholly succeeds in the end, but it's still a fascinating movie. Even when and where it fails, it does so gloriously and originally - due in no small part to a fabulous cast that includes the likes of John Malkovich, Anjelica Huston, and Jim Broadbent in secondary roles.

Max Minghella plays Jerome Platz, a young man who dreams of becoming the greatest artist of the twenty-first century. After twelve years of public education and innumerable beatings from bullies, he finally begins his life's journey by enrolling at Strathmore, a supposedly prestigious fine arts school that turns out to be less than Jerome thought it to be. It's located in a really bad part of town, its teachers aren't the kind of dedicated mentors he was expecting, and his fellow students run the gamut from shiftless losers to infuriatingly pretentious twits. One of his professors spent twenty-five years learning to draw triangles that no one, to his great surprise, seems the least bit interested in buying. If you're like me and just don't "get" modern art, you'll get a kick out of watching these students go on and on about the symbolism and incredible brilliance of artworks that only Jerome seems capable of recognizing as junk. He's the only decent artist in the whole school, but all of his work is belittled and branded derivative. When Jonah (Matt Keeslar) becomes the star pupil with an infantile piece he obviously threw together in about five minutes (it's a drawing of a car pasted on to a poster, people), Jerome really begins to crash and burn. The influence of Jimmy (Jim Broadbent), the biggest loser and most bitter and pathetic of Swarthmore art graduates, only furthers Jerome's downward spiral - well, that and the fact that Audrey (Sophia Myles), a nude model and the girl of his dreams, increasingly seems to favor the company of Jonah.

There also just happens to be a serial strangler on the loose in the area. Maybe you're wondering how art and murder go together, but the two really converge in this film to frame the ending and determine the overall theme of the story. Some professional reviewers seem to think the serial killer subplot is distracting and unnecessary; I find that rather amazing because this part of the story is crucial to the film's central theme.

The movie is adapted from Clowes' Eightball graphic novels, with Terry Zwigoff directing, making this the second collaborative effort by these two (the first was the much more successful Ghost World). Much of it was apparently inspired by Daniel Clowes' own experiences at art school, where he basically learned that one's merit is a far less determiner of success than one's connections. I have a hard time even classifying this thing; it's biting satire, art criticism, a character study, and a coming of age film all wrapped up into one. There may actually be too much to this film, which helps explain why it comes up a little short in the end. The plot isn't difficult to predict in some respects, and the negativity of the film may leave a bad taste in some viewers' mouths, but, in my opinion, Art School Confidential is a pretty compelling film - because of rather than in spite of its decidedly cynical outlook.

Gets Lost In Its Weirdness
Art School Confidential promises to be everything a truly unique independent film might be - and then spins out of control. With the likes of Steve Buscemi, Angelica Huston, John Malkovich and Jim Broadbent, this film had every right to succeed on every level. This is short. Jerome goes to Art school and gets disillusioned about art, school, girls and life. That's the crux of the plot. There are the screwy roommates, a strangler on campus, the hot guy who gets Jerome's girl, the misogynist and flaky art teacher - all added for color, but it's just a water-colored film blurred together into grays. It's not funny, poignant or clever and the ending just doesn't make any sense at all. I'm so sorry, but it's just not art.