Ghost World -- just so there's no confusion here -- has nothing to do with spooky critters or hauntings of any kind.
Based on the mondo weirdo comic book by Daniel Clowes, Ghost World tells the bleakly comic story of two teenage girls standing in the precarious place that separates girlhood from womanhood.
Thora Birch is Enid and Scarlett Johansson is Rebecca, two high schoolers who are too cool for school, except in the eyes of those who perceive the two girls as misfits, which would be just about everybody.
Enid and Rebecca have just graduated. They're not really sure what comes next. They don't much like their former classmates. A lot of the action in this film consists of these two women talking, and their bizarre, daily adventures -- following strangers, making up ideas for their own amusement, and so forth.
Rebecca gets a job. Enid doesn't.
Rebecca continues to pursue a long-time plan: She and Enid will get their own apartment. But Enid is too busy hanging out with a vinyl-collecting older eccentric (Steve Buscemi), and soon, the two friends are fighting. Worse yet, Enid's dad has taken up with a woman Enid hates.
Ghost World is a comedy, but not the sort of teen comedy Hollywood usually produces, no. This one is smart, populated with characters you'll recognize from real life, and bittersweet. Few of the funny lines are not married to the angst of adolescence. The cast also includes Illeana Douglas, Brad Renfro, Bob Balaban and, in a breathtakingly funny cameo, Dave Sheridan as a trailer trash guy who hangs out at the convenience store, mullet and all.
The Ghost World of the title must be the world these two women will have to grow up in. Laughs aside, Ghost World is all about the continuing decay of western culture. The girls live in faceless California without any identifiable family, without job prospects, without anything that resembles a future.
Gee, but that sounds depressing. Or at least realistic.
At any rate, these are characters you'll be rooting for. The match of Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson is inspired casting, and both young actresses are wonderful to watch.
Ghost World is the sort of movie people go to see twice, just to be sure they didn't miss anything.
(This film is rated AA)
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