Review: Art School Confidential (** 1/2)

ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2006 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2



ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL, by GHOST WORLD's Terry Zwigoff, is a strange
concoction of weird stories and styles. At its very heart is a sweet love
story between Jerome (Max Minghella), a would-be famous artist and a virgin,
and Audrey (Sophia Myles), the warm and beautiful blonde model who graces
the brochure for the art institute where Jerome is studying. Enjoy this
part, since the rest of the mix is mainly an unsatisfying blend of
everything from an art putdown to a serial killer investigation.



At the Strathmore Institute, Jerome's painting course is taught by the
talentless Professor Sandiford (John Malkovich). He, of course, doesn't see
himself that way, believing his work, which consists of nothing but simple
triangles, to be downright brilliant. His manner of teaching is to let his
students display their new canvases while they criticize each other's
potential masterpieces. The movie's on-going joke is that their collective
wisdom is outrageously pretentious and all wrong. The most simple and trite
pieces of art earn the most praise from the class, while anything displaying
any genuine talent is uniformly derided. Most of the "best" pieces are
reminiscent of kindergartner work.



The movie has a decidedly retro feel in its music and construction. Don't
be surprised if you begin to mistake it for a B-movie from the 1950s.



The story has artists trying to push the envelope by doing things like
displaying blood-stained placards that read "Legalize Genocide" and other
such off-beat and bizarre slogans.



The cluttered script includes a group of clownish cops, one of whom is
undercover, an artist who is an alcoholic and a slob and who lives in a
tenement, and one snobbishly successful graduate of the institute. The
elements of the plot clash continually, never meshing, so the ending of the
film will have you scratching your head. The story is quite understandable,
but it is rarely compelling, leaving you wondering what Zwigoff was trying
to say or do with this unsatisfying mess.



ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL runs 1:42. It is rated R for "language including
sexual references, nudity and a scene of violence" and would be acceptable
for teenagers.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, May 5, 2006. In
the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century
theaters and the Camera Cinemas.



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