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Jerome (a meek Max Minghella) wants to be the next great artist. As such, he decides to attend the Strathmore Institute, where other creative souls flock in the pursuit of greatness (or success, whichever comes first). His roommates include fashion major Matthew (Nick Swardson, carrying on his tradition of incredibly effeminate roles) and Vince (Ethan Suplee), an aspiring filmmaker whose lately project concerns the incidents on campus concerning a serial strangler. Meanwhile, in the class of Professor Sandiford (John Malkovich, fitting right in), Jerome finds himself guided by major-shifting Bardo (Joel David Moore), competing with creepy new guy Jonah (Matt Keeslar), and head over heels for model Audrey (Sophia Myles). Oh, and Anjelica Huston appears in two scenes as another professor and Steve Buscemi appears in two more as an art dealer, but frankly, the film seems to feature them more out of obligation than necessity.

Initially, the film finds its footing as a farce, lampooning several personalities that even those farthest from a paintbrush can recognize and chuckle at. Several scenes, such as Jerome’s attempts at dating manic-depressive beatnik chicks and the like, work rather well, especially considering that it could just as easily be an SNL sketch with just about the same amount of depth. One of the few successful Strathmore students returns to lecture that students about the futility of their education. Great artists are born, not learned; he is one, you are not, and as such, he can afford to be as much of an asshole as he pleases. However, such quirky touches soon run out of steam, and the unfortunate decision is made to put the clumsy Strathmore Strangler subplot front and center, which is the moment the film loses its sense of humor as well as its focus.

Director Terry Zwigoff and writer Daniel Clowes, reuniting five years after Ghost World, initially introduce Jimmy (Jim Broadbent) as an inebriated and bitter alum whose lifestyle of misery and loneliness seems to be an artist’s cruelest fate and strongest foundation, but once the killer strikes again, Jimmy becomes the awkward voice of nihilism, driving Jerome once he discovers that idealism in the art world is irrational. At this point, Art School Confidential becomes a movie of misguided meaning, simultaneously supporting and shooting down its protagonist’s aspirations, robbing him of ambition when he is supposed to be as great as he think he is. The films goes from skewering every pretense of the art world to embracing them, and instead of a sincere portrait of an artist coming to terms with the equally abstract nature of reality as he pursues “that narcotic moment of creative bliss,” it becomes dry when it should become truly dark and limps along as a derivative glimpse into an off-kilter world, good for a few laughs and nothing much else.

In the end, Zwigoff knows what he wants to say, but he misses the big picture, failing to fuse his shifting tones with a more complete theme. The mood becomes bitter, distracted, and rather murky when it would be dark, could be cynical, and should be rewarding, if only for the pessimists and nihilists. However, demanding such a crappy happy ending is asking for a happy ending nonetheless and could be mistaken for compromising one’s artistic integrity for the sake of commercial satisfaction, which the film itself seems to suggest. Not to sound like a snob or anything.

link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=13571&reviewer=409
originally posted: 05/14/06 14:23:18
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