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movie review - Ghost World

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

This is a movie about a teenage girl graduating from high school and trying to figure out what to do with her life. It's got Thora Birch playing a role that's fairly similar to the one she played in American Beauty and Steve Buscemi playing a similar role to the one he played in Trees Lounge (e.g. something close to how I picture the actor being like, himself).

I won't get into the plot too much because I doubt it would carry in a fifty-word write-up, here. This is a good flick with good writing, great pacing, realistic characters, but screwy directing. The first hour is really quite good; moving along in a way where you're not really sure where it will all lead. Then it loses the thread for about twenty minutes towards the end, and in that time manages to fall apart. In the end, this isn't as good as American Beauty.

Not recommended.