Art School Confidential Reviews
Critic & User Reviews
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Critic Reviews
This is as dark as Zwigoff has gotten - arguably even darker than "Bad Santa." And, while it's legitimate to label Art School Confidential as a "comedy," the movie is more clever than it is funny.
Read the full reviewThere is a wise and understanding teacher on the faculty, played by Anjelica Huston. Defending the work of Dead White Males, she sensibly observes that when they did their best work "they weren't dead yet."
Read the full reviewIf a more elegant and succinct explanation of what compels some people to go to art school has ever been filmed, I haven't seen it.
Read the full reviewEnjoyable and reprises the same dyspeptic attitude that infused "Ghost World," but ultimately it lacks its predecessor's originality and humanity.
Read the full reviewZwigoff has a rich comic gallery of pretentious boobs to lampoon. But his satirical target just seems too easy this time around: It's hard to spoof institutions that already veer so close to self-parody.
Read the full reviewMisanthropy can be incredibly entertaining, so long as that hatred draws blood. But that extra percentage point of venom has skewed Clowes and Zwigoff's aim.
Read the full reviewWith an "Animal House"-ish deportment, Art School likely will entertain a sophomoric audience and etch some winning college-kid figures, but art house audiences will be disappointed by its paint-by-numbers storytelling.
Read the full reviewDespite a soulful leading performance from Max Minghella, pic feels insubstantial, echoing without equaling both the coolly ironic edge and heart of "Ghost World" and the incisive art-world outsider portrait of the director's docu feature, "Crumb."
Read the full reviewArt School Confidential exudes confidence as long as it is satirizing a questionable, at least according to Clowes, institution of higher learning. But the film loses its way with multiple subplots, becoming a hodgepodge that isn't particularly hard to follow, but, far worse, provides no compelling reason to bother.
Read the full reviewIn spite of some acute observations and a few interesting performances (most notably from John Malkovich as Jerome's drawing teacher and the ever-reliable Jim Broadbent as Strathmore's least illustrious alumnus), Art School Confidential is a dull and dyspeptic exercise in self-pity and hostility.
Read the full reviewZwigoff's overdue for a turkey, in other words. Art School Confidential is it.
Read the full reviewInsistently sullen, nihilistic, and successful to the point of smugness at transmitting buzzkill, Art School Confidential is the second collaboration between art-house cartoonist Daniel Clowes and director Terry Zwigoff.
Read the full reviewReview excerpts provided by Metacritic.com.
The Metascore® designation for this movie is 54
User Reviews
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A Farce of an "Indie" Film
"The movie industry has finally found a way to market independant movies to the masses... Art School Confidential was the equivical of American Pie in Art School, full of sexist and other immature jests, I walked out of the movie. I am so disappointed in this team, I loved Ghost World in it's witty mysanthropy, this however is mythanthropic in that characters scream that all people should die. It is less than enthralling or intelligent. Boo to and shame on, the writers, producers, and advertisers who made this happen."
Simply Reviewed: Sh*te Sandwich
"It is just not very good. It doesn't have a broad appeal. The humor is good in places. Some characters are good. Some of the plot points and themes are good. Together as a whole it is long, winding, and inconsistant. I would not recommend this to anyone. If you are an art student or an art insider there are plenty of other films, both funny and dramatic, in this area that are worth seeing well before this one."
Better for Guys
"The film, like the art world, has a male voice and, for that reason, will leave females wanting. That being said, the art school cliches are satisfying and amusing and if you've gone to art school, it's a must see. I LOVE the film's take on Piccaso!"
These critics should have been in the movie
"The critics who pan this movie would have been excellent as the fellow art students, the ones who had no clue as to what was good art or bad, but just spouted a lot of snobbish and supercilious b.s. The movie was hilarious. I saw it with my son who is in art school and hates it for all the reasons the movie lays out in its comical but insightful way."
immature
"stupid. not funny or entertaining. boring. (otherwise fine)"
A Sick Joke
"This movie is a huge mess. The director must be high and the cast really in need of money. Nothing is right, but then many movies are all about what NOT to have in a movie. Sophia Myles has a big butt and thunder thighs. Seeing her nude in this movie about made me (and all others in theatre) vomit. Take your barf bags. The nude man will really have you barfing. This is a sick and sad excuse for a movie if there is one."
Art School Sophmoric
"The movie is funny at the beginning, but lose its way about half way through and the end is sophmoric, but hey compared to anything Hollywood used to do this is an improvement. The cast is fun to watch!The teaming of the writer/director appears to be the problem -- they are out of synch!"
irony on irony
"just thinking about art school inspires irony so here is irony on irony......."
A rich comic gallery leads to a disappointting film
"Zwigoff has a rich comic gallery of pretentious boobs to lampoon. But his satirical target just seems too easy this time around: It's hard to spoof institutions that already veer so close to self-parody. But with an "Animal House"-ish deportment, Art School likely will entertain a sophomoric audience and etch some winning college-kid figures, but art house audiences will be disappointed by its paint-by-numbers storytelling. And despite a soulful leading performance from Max Minghella, pic feels insubstantial, echoing without equaling both the coolly ironic edge and heart of "Ghost World" and the incisive art-world outsider portrait of the director's docu feature, "Crumb.""
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These boards contain member reviews of Movies. Use the Notify links to report improper post. Read AOL Anywhere Rules of User Conduct for more. AOL members: For our full suite of interactive Message Boards, Chats, Polls, and member stories, go to keyword: Movie Talk.
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