Wordiezett
So much average
Platicsco
Good story, Not enough for a whole film
AutCuddly
Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
wolfgirlriderok
As an art student, I hated this film. It's just garbage.Absolutely full to the brim of clichés that on the surface ring true (stoners, goths, hippies, queer folk, hardcore feminists all make appearances in art school) but these characters are pure 2D cardboard cut out 'characters' only included so the audience can laugh at them.Speaking as a representational artist, I hate that this heavily biased toward the idea that representational art is superior to abstract art. It wreaks of immaturity and not actually understanding the purpose of it.Forced romance, terribly unlikable characters with unbelievable lines that are delivered terribly.
tpaladino
This movie had a terrifically original plot and great casting, but ultimately fails on it's low budget and the directors startling lack of vision. I mean, when your cast includes Steve Buscemi, John Malkovitch, Angelica Huston and Jim Broadbent in major supporting roles, you owe it to the project to pull out all the stops. The director, however, made one horrible choice after another. From the cinematography to the soundtrack to the wardrobe, an utter lack of creativity and vision is apparent throughout the film. To add insult to injury, a good portion of Art School Confidential was actually shot on location in New York City (a major asset that many lower budget films are not afforded), and yet somehow the director also manages to absolutely waste this opportunity as well, making genuine NYC street scenes look like a Canadian back lot. It takes a special lack of talent to manage that trick. Particularly when viewed in comparison to films like Cruel Intentions and The Rules of Attraction (which tread in similar thematic territory), the shortcomings of Art School Confidential become crystal clear. A great movie could have been made here. But unfortunately all we got was mediocrity. I give it five out of ten stars based on the originality of the story alone. Everything beyond that was a waste.
rooprect
For the first half hour, I thought this was going to be a slightly artistic version of "American Pie", "Back to School" or the standard freshman college romp. But slowly, strangely the story deepens, darkens and widens until by the end it has completely transformed itself into a stunning commentary about the human condition.Most of the laughs are up front, and even so, they're not real zingers so much as they are low-key situational humour (like in a John Cusack film). As the outer layers of this film are peeled away, we see that it becomes more of a macabre mystery, and ultimately it becomes a psychological/social drama about how we deal with self-expression.I think if you're an artist, musician, filmmaker, chef, or any type of creative person who respects individual expression, you'll get a lot out of this film. Even if you're just a casual patron of the arts, you'll find it interesting because it asks some pointed questions about the nature of art. Should art be treated separately from the artist (do we have the right to glorify the art of a scumbag)? And to what degree should people be allowed to express themselves? How about the very nature of art--does it always have to be new & shocking? Where does actual talent fit in? These are all themes that weave in & out of the story while the story itself is about something completely different. There's definitely a lot going on here.The movie is rated R, but really it's rather tame. There's not much profanity, no gratuitous sex, no blood & guts. However we do get a lengthy shot of a man's crankshaft. Oh yeah, we also see about 50 pictures of a man's scrotum on a wall. It's all in funny, artistic context... if you can believe that.The key to enjoying this film to its fullest is to realize that it's a deadpan satire, much like "Catch-22", where the humour is based on outrageous stereotypes and preposterous (though believable) situations. The mood, particularly toward the end, reminded me of "Death at a Funeral" (original version), the way it takes such an irreverent approach to serious matters. And the humour itself is, like I said, a lot like a John Cusack movie ("Say Anything", "Better Off Dead") though somewhat toned down. Though predictable at times (deliberately?), I felt the ultimate payoff was very satisfying, and I highly recommend this to anyone who likes dark comedy ("Heathers", "Grand Theft Parsons").
Metal Angel Ehrler
What can I say? I always considered that art- as in paintings, drawings and such- was a very complicated thing to follow. I mean, you see a painting, you let it be absorbed into your consciousness, you reflect about it, and then you decide about what it means and whether it has any significance to you. But how do you know if it's actually "art"? This is why I found Terry Zwigoff's "Art School Confidential" to be an utterly refreshing look at the art world, which is even more complicated than what I actually believed it to be. The film deals with a quiet, lonely boy called Jerome Platz (Max Minghella), who has been bullied and ignored ever since he was a child. Now, Jerome's hero is Pablo Picasso, and ever since he remember he's wanted to be a grand artist, like his hero. "I wanna be the greatest artist of the 21st century!," he often squeals delightedly throughout the film.Anyway, little Jerome grows up, graduates from high-school and decides to enroll in a renowned art school, where young artists whose art is actually new and modern can hope to make a name out of themselves. This college is a tiny but colourful world populated with a large array of weird and quirky characters, all of them "artists", and in comes young, boyish, quiet Jerome trying to be an artist like all of them.Upon entering his dorm room, he encounters his two roommates, a fat film major (Ethan Suplee) working on a short film based on some murders that have been terrorizing the campus grounds, and a noticeably gay fashion major (Nick Swardson) who swears he misses his girlfriend.And in his most important class, little Jerome meets his holier-than-thou professor (John Malkovich) who's so full of himself to actually notice any of his students' work, a flunkie (Joel David Moore) who enrolled into art school just for the 'pussy', and...a gorgeous, sophisticated model (Sophia Myles) who also happens to be the daughter of a famous painter and who instantly becomes Jerome's muse and obsession.Throughout the film, which is perfectly written and refreshingly funny, we follow Jerome's steady psychological downfall. He begins as a happy and anxious boy with dreams, and he slowly progresses into a disheartened, depressed, suicidal failure of an artist. This happens because his art isn't appreciated at all, because he notices how arbitrary and tediously unnerving the "art world" really is, and because his muse and obsession doesn't pay him any attention and prefers to mingle with a hunky, handsome new art student who also becomes the number one artist in school and who's "art" (if it can even be called that) Jerome loathes above anything else.Why brings me back to the initial question: how do you know if something is really "art"? Through various hilarious and original encounters with artists, connoisseurs and art grads, Jerome begins to put two and two together and finds that this world that he so reveres is actually soul-sucking and lifeless. "It's not about how good you are," an art school grad (Jim Broadbent) says, "It's about how good you are at cock-sucking." But then, just when poor Jerome is about to give up on his life, his art, his everything...well, something happens that will give him one last chance to make a name for himself, to conquer his muse and adoration and to make sense out of all the craziness he's living through.More than an ironic film that exposes "art" as we know it nowadays, this film touches on the basic human feelings of failure, redemption and need. It also talks about love. And it's also very, very funny...which is good, because there is still comedy in life's tragedies, isn't there? I highly recommend this film. Believe me, you will not be disappointed! Rating: 4 stars out of 4!!
