Ghost World

If on day you ever wondered where it all started for Scarlett Johansson in film, before her regular Oscar nods and the well-established Marcel hero Black Widow, the archives would take you to North, a 1994 comedy-drama starring Elijah Wood, but one of her first leading roles was in Ghost World alongside Thora Birch - two late teens at the time, they rocked in Terry Zwigoff's production, proving a significant indication of what's to come for both actors in.

The story of neo-cool Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) who, faced with graduation from high school, take a hard look at the world they wryly observe and decide what they really want. When Enid takes an interest in the offbeat Seymour (Steve Buscemi) and Rebecca focuses her attention on their mutual romantic fixation Josh (Brad Renfro), the girls' friendship is forever changed.

An eerie tone echoed through the narrative as we seemingly await the big punchline breakthrough which explodes to heighten the tension and develop the storyline, however, the film cleverly probes and anticipates its audience into a spiral of uncertainty and doubt. Adapted from the novel of the same name, Zwigoff ensures that the storybook feel is still present and acts as an enticing mechanism to achieving the act of conveying the movie's key message.

The idea of casting Steve Buscemi is genius, providing contrasts to the two protagonists, his character is ageing and lonesome, in light of the two youthful best friends the three bond in an unlikely fashion, though musical references in a time of prevalent anthems of the early 2000s / late 90s is a relatable, appropriate feature of the pictures excellence.

Ghost World is an ambiguous watch, which will leave you questioning the realms of fantasy and reality, an immersive, thrilling watch perfect for indulging away from the sameness of everyday life.

Movies that criticise the world can fall into many traps, leaving the viewer to feel jaded by the film's experience. Ghost World's witty appraisal of 'America' successfully avoids being childishly caustic or self-important and thus emerges as one of the best films of 2001. We sympathise with Enid (the luscious Thora Birch) without being expected to completely believe that her cynical world-view is necessarily the right one. Enid's (and her best-friend Rebecca's)negativity is turned on all around them, and their obsessive need to be cool but on their own terms sees them take post-modernism to its absurd conclusion.

Enid's bizarre costume choices mean that she stands out from the rest of her baggy-panted generation, and in one scene is infuriated that no-one, even Rebecca, understands her 'original 1977 punk look' she's testing out.

The fact that we should not fully empathise with Enid is shown by the contrasting character arc of Rebecca. There is a definite sense that she grows up over the course of the movie, but not in a "what have we learned about life" Disney way. Perhaps she has sold out to the conservative ideals that seemed so repulsive to them at the beginning of the movie, but just as Enid ultimately fulfils her desires, so does Becky live out her 'seventh grade fantasy'. The important thing is not the choices people make, but whether they make choices with which they are happy.

The movie's main targets are people who betray themselves in an effort to fit in, and their resulting stupidity by doing so. But the people who have remained true to their values (like Steve Buscemi's Seymour, in a performance that should have been at least nominated for an Academy Award), are portrayed as leading equally vacuous lives. Seymour's infrequent attempts to achieve 'normality' are galling for us to observe, and near soul-destroying for him to experience.

This is an excellent movie. Thora Birch gives her most confident performance to date, and Scarlett Johansson is superbly laconic as Enid's icy side-kick. The supporting cast all shine. Strongly recommended!

"We graduated from high school. How totally amazing", says a sarcastic Enid Coleslaw (Thora Birch, in the best performance of her career), at the beginning of "Ghost World". Enid and her best friend, Rebecca (a 15 year-old Scarlett Johansson) discuss how much they longed for their graduation day, and when it finally came, it wasn't as cheerful as they were expecting. While Rebecca finds a job and tries to move on, Enid doesn't know what to do with her life and spends most of her time with Seymour (Steve Buscemi, playing the most humane variation of all the 'losers' he's been playing his whole life, and that's why he's so great at it), a lonely older man whose biggest pleasure is collecting rare, old records.

The more I watch "Ghost World", the more I like it. This is a very special, really beautiful film, that speaks to the heart. It's both hilarious (really one of the funniest films I've ever seen - Enid's yard sale, her first day of work at a movie theater, just to name a couple of favourite scenes, crack me up every time) and moving, with a bittersweet feel to it that's underlined by David Kitay's musical theme. Terry Zwigoff's ("Crumb") script, co-written by Daniel Clowes based on his own comic books, has a remarkable respect for its characters, most of them adorable and pathetic at once - including Josh (Brad Renfro), a boy Enid and Rebecca love to mess around with. One week ago, when I was re-watching this movie with some friends who had never seen it, we commented on how miserable Josh is - and how sad it was to hear about Renfro's premature death a few days later.

If you ever felt lost in your own world, not knowing what do with your life, you're gonna relate to this film. The feeling I get from it is a little similar to THAT other film with Scarlett Johansson, the sublime "Lost in Translation". For me, any movie as sincere and well crafted as "Ghost World" and "Lost in Translation" is a classic, and deserves a spot on my all-time favourites' list. 10/10.

For a few weeks, the daily life of Rebecca and Enid, two teenagers who spend their time complaining and pesting, with a decided opinion on almost everything, without any diplomatic filter. One could almost think they were educated in France, at least partially. Thus, following their 4381st perfidy of the week, they meet Seymour, a lonely middle-aged music aficionado. Surprisingly, in contact with Seymour, Enid discovers the concept of benevolence. Despite the 25-year gap, they seem connected with real affinities. In fact, the film takes place at a time when Rebecca and Enid have just graduated from high school, and what seemed to be gratuitous malice is probably more an uncontrolled anger based on the fear of leaving their adolescence to join a world they hardly appreciate: the adult society. They fear to grow up and move on. In a way, Seymour was a transition or a key milestone for Enid: the perfect guy, at the perfect time. Thanks to Seymour, Enid has matured and learned to live differently, with a significantly more open mind. The world does not revolves anymore around herself: she is now part of it. Time to take a bus to discover it! Like Jules Winnfield said during the coffee shop conversation, within Pulp Fiction (1994), she's now gonna walk the earth from town to town, meet people, get in adventures.

The movie is complex, smart and well constructed. And the cast is globally awesome, with a special mention to Steve Buscemi, Thora Birch and Illeana Douglas.

Two female high school grads plan to get jobs and hang together, but bonds become frayed and paths separate after one of the girls ends up on an unintended journey of self-discovery. From the comic-book which takes a perverse delight in celebrating the geeky side of all of us, "Ghost World" is profane and cynical, but also surprisingly blithe and bright. I rather enjoyed it but realize it's not for every taste. Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson are incredibly rich and vivid in their roles (low-keyed, deadpan, but not blanks); their love-hate friendship is convincing and blessedly free of melodramatics--even they seem to cherish the personality conflicts that come up, it may give them more ammunition. As for the ending, I'm not sure whether it is ingenious or a cop-out, but it did leave me touched (in a bemused, nostalgic way). A movie with much to offer. *** from ****