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Movies / On DVD / Art School Confidential
Art School Confidential

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Art School Confidential (2006)

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Reviews Counted:131

Fresh:47

Rotten:84

Average Rating:5.4/10

Consensus: Art School's misanthropy is too sour, its targets too flat and cliched, and Clowes and Zwigoff stumble when trying to build a story around the premise.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language including sexual references, nudity and a scene of violence.

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:May 5, 2006 Limited

Box Office: $3,174,973

Synopsis: "Art School Confidential" follows a talented young artist Jerome Platz (Max Minghella) as he escapes from high school to a tiny East Coast art school. Here the boyish freshman's ambition is to... "Art School Confidential" follows a talented young artist Jerome Platz (Max Minghella) as he escapes from high school to a tiny East Coast art school. Here the boyish freshman's ambition is to become the world's greatest artist, like his hero Picasso. Unfortunately, the beauty and craft of Jerome's portraiture are not appreciated in an anything-goes art class that he finds bewildering and bogus. Neither his harsh judgments of his classmates' efforts or his later attempts to create pseudo-art of his own win him any admirers. But Jerome does attract the attentions of his dream girl — the stunning and sophisticated Audrey (Sophia Myles) — an artist's model and daughter of a celebrated artist. Rejecting the affectations of the local art scene, Audrey is drawn to Jerome's sincerity. When Audrey shifts her attentions to Jonah (Matt Keeslar), a hunky painter who becomes the school's latest art star, Jerome is heartbroken. Desperate, he concocts a risky plan to make a name for himself and win her back. Filling out Jerome's world are a host of offbeat characters, including: a quirky art teacher (John Malkovich) who takes an extra-curricular interest in Jerome; a failed artist (Jim Broadbent), drowning in alcohol and self-pity; a regal art history professor (Anjelica Huston) Jerome tries to influence; a coffee shop owner-cum-art impresario (Steve Buscemi) swelling with self-importance; a worldly classmate (Joel David Moore), who introduces Jerome in the intricate mores of campus life; and Jerome's filmmaker roommate (Ethan Suplee), exploding with energy to create a cinematic masterpiece. United Artists and Sony Pictures Classics present Terry Zwigoff's "Art School Confidential," starring Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Matt Keeslar, Steve Buscemi and Anjelica Huston. The film is produced by Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich and Russell Smith, partners in the production company Mr. Mudd, which also produced "Ghost World." Based on Daniel Clowes' short comic story of the same name, "Art School Confidential" is directed by Zwigoff from a screenplay by Clowes. --© Sony Pictures Classics [More]

Starring: Max Minghella, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Ezra Buzzington

Starring: Max Minghella, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Ezra Buzzington, Sophia Myles, Matt Keeslar, Anjelica Huston, Steve Buscemi, Adam Scott, Nick Swardson, Paul Collins, Roxanne Hart

Director: Terry Zwigoff

Director: Terry Zwigoff
Screenwriter: Daniel Clowes
Producer: Russell Smith, Daniel Clowes
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Release:

Oct 10, 2006

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Reviews for Art School Confidential

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Messy, squalidly funny

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/30/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

Director Terry Zwigoff presents a scathing satire of art school student existence but derails the movie, about a talented young artist (well-played by Max Minghella), with an artificial sub-plot about a campus serial killer.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/19/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Unfortunately, the tender observations Zwigoff and Clowes specialize in are largely missing from Art School Confidential, which spends its energy on the zany people who'd usually pepper the edges of their films.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
06/08/08
Robert Davis
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine

A stilted satire of teenage passion and apathy, sex and death and crime...so concerned with aping style that it never bothers to consider its characters as people.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
02/01/08
Karina Longworth
Karina Longworth
Cinematical

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
12/07/07
Keith H. Brown
Keith H. Brown
Eye for Film

It's the work of two misanthropes in an even worse mood than usual.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Simultaneously champions creative desire while calling out the artistic realm's share of pretentious blowhards.

Full Review Source: Projection Booth | comment Comment
07/03/07
Rob Humanick
Rob Humanick
Projection Booth

An ingenious satire of the pretentious mindset of the elitist art world from the perspective of a rapidly-disillusioned kid who had no idea what he was getting into.

Full Review Source: DallasBlack.com | comment Comment
05/20/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
DallasBlack.com

Making fun of art students is like shooting Darwin fish in a barrel.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
03/24/07
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
UGO

Suffers from snail-like pacing, an underwhelming central character and the "shooting fish in a barrel" syndrome: The film's targets are all too obvious.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International

Maybe this material isn't entirely fresh, but Zwigoff delivers it with the snap of a quick punch to the face -- which is, in fact, the first image in the film, and a model for innumerable excellent sight gags to follow.

Full Review Source: Nation | comment Comment
11/11/06
Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans
Nation

...generally comes off as nothing less than a substantial disappointment.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
10/13/06
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

The few characters we might have cared for become increasingly shallow, and it all lapses into clichés about the relationship between art and infamy, between personal integrity and selling your soul, and so on.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
09/01/06
Peter T. Chattaway
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today

Curiously, this relentlessly cynical tone turns out sounding refreshingly original compared to the usual pieties in the genre.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
07/12/06
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The true merit of the movie is the momentary pleasures of the dialogue and the performances, but the story itself leaves you wanting. So, is it art? Looks like it.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
06/16/06
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina

Has the makings of a mediocre, after-school sitcom

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
06/09/06
Marty Mapes
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit

Art School Confidential s'avère une autre belle réussite pour les deux artistes [Zwigoff et Clowes] qui, espérons-le, collaboreront à nouveau dans un avenir rapproché.

Full Review Source: Panorama | comment Comment
06/05/06
Jean-François Vandeuren
Jean-François Vandeuren
Panorama
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
06/03/06
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Rather than observing the intimate details that make an Art School project special, the filmmakers opt to focus on Art School partying (i.e., drinking and vomiting) instead.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
06/03/06
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Unfortunately, Clowes' script is lame and littered with stereotypes, and the performances of Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent and Anjelica Huston can't save it.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
06/03/06
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan
 
 
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Latest News for Art School Confidential

September 14, 2007: Zwigoff, Clowes to Assemble $40,000 Man
The creative duo responsible for Ghost World and Art School Confidential has found its next project. More...

August 27, 2007: Video Exclusive: Sophia Myles talks Hallam Foe with RT
We chat to the supremely lovely British actress about her latest role in David Mackenzie's new film. More...

May 14, 2006: Box Office Wrapup: "Mission: Impossible 3" Beats "Poseidon" to Remain at #1
Tom Cruise's spy sequel Mission: Impossible III remained the most popular film in North America for the second straight weekend while the big-budget disaster film Poseidon... More...

May 07, 2006: Box Office Wrapup: "Mission: Impossible III" Big, But Not Huge at #1
Tom Cruise climbed into his usual number one spot at the box office with his heavily-hyped spy sequel Mission: Impossible III, however ticket sales fell below most industry... More...

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