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Art School Confidential As funny as Art School Confidential is—and it is hysterical, with most of the audience laughing quite loudly—it simply tries too hard. It's really two or three movies rolled into one.
Art School Confidential opens with scenes of the protagonist's early life, where we see that he had artistic talent from young age and is quite earnest about being a "great artist." This really is the crux of the film. Jerome—played by Max Minghella—takes himself very seriously. HIs role models are famous painters acknowledged throughout history as absolute geniuses. His artistic style is, therefore, quite conservative, especially as compared to his peers who are much more ethereal and experimental. In a interesting parody of art school, these students are hailed as more talented and praised for being "free".
John Malkovich plays the professor who contributes to Jerome's demise by encouraging him to explore beyond the well honed technique he has cultivated and engenders in him a fierce sense of competition.
It's also a coming of age movie. Jerome is a virgin who falls in love with Audrey (Sophia Myles), one of the artist models, an older woman (of course), who is friendly but friendlier still to Jonah (Matt Keeslar) who is the most popular student because of his childlike art pieces, which are considered virtual masterpieces.
There is an interesting twist to this character, which is better left unmentioned. But suffice to say that the twist is absolutely ludicrous. Part of the incredulity of the character is due to the casting, which brings down the entire movie. Audrey, although pretty, seems a bit too old and Jerome's filmmaker roommate Vince (Ethan Suplee) is not convincing. One of the few characters who is a joy to watch is the fashion design student Matthew (Nick Swardson). We are given a tiny glimpse into his angst, probably as a nod to character development. And yet, the movie is definitely scene-driven with punches of character insight that masks this overwhelmingly shallow endeavor.
The acting in the movie isbest described as mediocre, with the exception of Malkovich. For some reason, knowing that Malkovich was one of the producers made me expect a little more from this much anticipated movie, due in part to the reputation of writer Daniel Clowes and director Terry Swigoff, who teamed up previously for Ghost World (2001). The movie tries to come off as a super low-budget indie, could have been made much better. For example, the production design is absolutely visceral, even distracting, where it should have been unnoticeable and seamless. And the editing is downright elementary with many obvious cutaway "clue" shots. The opening scene is as unoriginal as it gets and should have been laid to rest on the editing room floor, despite the remainder of the plot being highly original.
Believe it or not, there is a full fledged murder mystery happening along with everything else. This would be clever were it not so clumsy. It just is not woven well into the rest of the plot. Like the movie as a whole, it feels forced. But go and see this movie anyway, because despite the criticisms, it remains an extremely funny film. And luckily for Zwigoff and Clowes the humour floats this movie skyward and away from closer scrutiny.
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