One half of a funny movie.
Art School Confidential (2006)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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
Get This Movie
Reviews for Art School Confidential
Their humor comes not from a need to be loved or a need to win awards, but rather straight from an acute awareness of the world's follies.
(Director Terry) Zwigoff paints it all with broad strokes and bright colors, the easier to transform it into a snarky cartoon.
Underdeveloped and tedious, "Art School Confidential" left me irritated and annoyed.
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.
...a sort of John Hughes revamp of Fritz Lang's 'Scarlet Street' (another film in which sexual desire leads a struggling painter down a path of death and stolen artistic identity).
Art School Confidential shows the kind of backbone needed by limp parodies like Thank You for Smoking and American Dreamz.
There are two movies vying to occupy the same space here: a teen comedy about artistic pretension and academic double standards, and a darker, nastier movie about a serial killer.
Zwigoff's angry exposé of this intense, tiny subculture isn't fair to anyone in the art world, but if you can stomach the overstatement, it's often scathingly funny. And it's sometimes scathingly smart.
There's not a single person to like in Art School Confidential, a crucial mistake in a movie filled with mean, shallow and self-absorbed characters.
Starts out as a great movie that eventually devolves into a pretty good one.
A comedy about a young man's wild quest to become the greatest artist in the 21st century.
An admittedly amusing, completely miserable picture filled with too-easy yuks that make you feel cheap and dirty the second you're done chuckling.
It becomes the sort of thing Zwigoff usually holds in contempt, and how depressing is that?
Despite running out of juice in its last half-hour, Art School Confidential has enough solid laughs and insider jokes to become a cult perennial.
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.
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.
It’s a look at art school life. It’s a love story. It’s a coming of age tale. It’s a serial killer murder mystery. None of these themes fit together and it makes for a really disjointed, confusing watch.
Zwigoff too often picks up his putty knife when he should be running with scissors...doesn't quite add up to the sum of its parts, but some of the parts are pretty amusing all the same.
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...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- Art School Confidential at Rotten Tomatoes
- Art School Confidential at IGN
- Art School Confidential at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.

TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.

Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic



