Rating: R
Genre:
Comedy Drama
Theatrical Release: 07/20/2001(USA
Release Date: 02/05/2002
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 111 Minutes
Flags: Adult Situations, Not For Children, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Watch With Your Teen
Distributor/Studio: MGM
Filmmaker
Terry Zwigoff, who enjoyed breakthrough success with his 1994 documentary
Crumb, shifts gears as he examines the lives of two young women on the verge of leaving their adolescence behind in his first dramatic feature.
Enid (
Thora Birch) and
Rebecca (
Scarlett Johansson) are two close friends who've just graduated from high school, and are trying to decide what to do with their lives.
Enid is a dark-haired arch cynic who is tired of living at home with her ineffectual dad (
Bob Balaban) and his annoyingly perky girlfriend Maxine (
Teri Garr), while
Rebecca is prettier and a bit cheerier, but no more certain about her future. While the two girls have vague plans of getting an apartment together, they seem content to while away their summer hanging out and indulging in their shared infatuation with
Josh (
Brad Renfro), a friend from school who works at a convenience store and doesn't seem to be especially attracted to either of them.
Enid discovers that in order to get her diploma, she'll have to take an additional class over the summer, where she winds up studying art with
Roberta (
Illeana Douglas), who is determined to encourage
Enid's creative impulses, whether
Enid likes it or not. More significantly,
Enid meets
Seymour (
Steve Buscemi), a geeky record collector more than twice her age, and while they would seem to have little in common (and
Rebecca thinks he's a creep),
Enid discovers a kindred spirit in fellow misfit
Seymour, who shares her disgust with the world around them, and a relationship begins to develop between the two.
Ghost World is based on the award-winning graphic novel by comic artist
Daniel Clowes, who also wrote the film's screenplay.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide