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Art School Confidential

Terry Zwigoff provides an interesting case as a director. He has directed four major films, all of them highly entertaining, and all fairly different. 1994’s “Crumb” is a documentary about R. Crumb the comic book writer/artist and his family. 1991’s “Ghost World” is a dark comedy/drama following two outsider recent high-school graduates and how they react to the ‘real’ world. 2003’s “Bad Santa” was a dirty Hollywood comedy about an alcoholic department store Santa. “Art School Confidential” is something between the last two as it toes the invisible line between being a small budget independent film and the sophomoric humor often associated with comedies like “Bad Santa”.

Jerome (Max Minghella) is the epitome of naïve when he starts as a freshman at a prestigious art college. He’s constantly at odds with the other art students and his teachers, making himself and outsider among the self proclaimed outsiders (it doesn’t help that whenever he is asked what he wants be, he answers, “The greatest artist of the 21st century,” not the best way to make friends). When Jerome meets Audrey (Sophia Myles), one of the nude subjects posing for a class, he is in over his head. Audrey is an older, worldlier person than the shelter Jerome, and as they get to know one another and spend time together, Jerome takes this to mean that she’s his girlfriend. On top of all the cattiness of the art students, Jerome’s obliviousness to how relationships work and the general insanity of the school, there also happens to be serial killer preying on the area around campus.

With a supporting cast featuring the likes of John Malkovich, Angelica Houston, Jim Broadbent and more, “Art School Confidential” is heavily loaded with talent, and makes good use of it most the way through. Towards the end, some of the characters seem untrue to themselves, and the films eschews making a point about its subject matter in exchange for a few good laughs. It serves it purpose, to entertain, and while it’s not a movie to pick up on DVD it’s definitely worth a viewing.

Written by: Brian Tracy

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