Art School Confidential (2006)

Want to see it?

Seen it?

0
1
2
3
4
5
Rate this movie.

Buy it now on DVD

Starting at $10.32

Want to buy it?

Write a review

Discuss it

Add to lists

Recommend it

Get recommendations

Watch trailer

Directed by Terry Zwigoff.

Starring Jim Broadbent, John Malkovich, Matt Keeslar, Sophia Myles, Max Minghella.

Watch trailer

Filmmaker Terry Zwigoff and comic artist and screenwriter Daniel Clowes, who collaborated for the acclaimed 2001 comedy-drama Ghost World, team up once again for this offbeat satire. Jerome (Max Minghella) is an aspiring artist who arrives at a prestigious East Coast art institute to study. While Jerome enjoys daydreams of becoming the best-respected painter on Earth and winning the hearts of his female classmates, he soon learns the sad truth -- his "cool artist" act is old hat in the big city, and as he's surrounded by every art school cliché on Earth, practically nothing about him stands out. Determined to be recognized whatever the consequences, Jerome maps out a bizarre plan to become famous that has some unexpected consequences. Loosely adapted from a story in Clowes' comic book Eightball, Art School Confidential also stars John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Anjelica Huston, and Sophia Myles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

[more]

Reviews and discussions

Art School Confidential (2006, ...
by CinemaRian in CinemaRian Blog

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Is there a difference between being a great artist or just having everyone thing you are? I had never thought about that, the central issue of the new comedy from the bitterly funny Terry Zwigoff. The film isn't quite as funny or as consistant as his two previous films (Ghost World and Bad Santa), but it makes some profound points about the nature of art. Jerome Platz (Max Minghella) is a moderatley talented freshman art student who has won admission to Swarthmore University, a prestigious art school in New York City. Like all incoming freshman, Jerome is miserable- his parents think he's gay (because he's artistic), his roomates are weird, his classmates are talentless, his proffesor's don't really care, and he wants to have sex really, really badly. Even worse, he only wants to have sex with someone he loves- which further causes people to think he's gay. An amazingly thing happens when Audrey (Sophia Myles), the nude model in his drawing class, actual shows interest in his ... " [More]

Art School Confidential
by JimBell in JimBell Blog

lost interest.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I watched Art School Confidential eagerly, pulled from scene to scene by the suspense. And what talent! Director Terry Zwighoff (Ghost World; Crumb) and writer Daniel Clowes, with an innocent lead by Max Minghella (Bee Season), and a perfectly beautiful, remote muse by Sophia Myles (Tristan + Isolde), a classically incompetent art teacher by John Malkovich, and the list goes on. Yet when the movie finished, I didn’t like it. Why? Because there was no payoff to all the suspense. Suspense? What suspense? you ask. It is an intellectual suspense. The plot, stated simply, is that an innocent, talented, virginal young man goes to art school, and learns something. What will he learn? He learns two things, which are the themes of the movie. First, to be successful in the art world, talent is far less important than sucking up to the right people. Supporting this theme is the recurring critique of student art. It shows that no work of art is any better than any other work. Second, all ... " [More]

No "Ghost World", but better th ...
by JakeStevens in JakeStevens Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I can't say anything bad about Terry Zwigoff. Even when he mostly misses, as he sometimes does in this film, it's still damn funny. He hits the nail on the head with his deft observations of any art school student or teacher clichés that fester within, whether it be film, photography or the canvas. Not his best, but worth a look, particularly if you fancy yourself an "artiste". " [More]

Ok
by ellimille in ellimille Blog

lost interest.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I found the surroundings interesting (being an art school student myself) and the characters in it seemed suitable but I just got really fed up with the main character`s problems to make up his mind. He was so passive it got annoying. It made the whole movie passive. Ok movie but nothing spectacular. " [More]

Art school usual suspects
by gothere in You should go there

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"While I had hoped for more from this film, Art School Confidential did what I had hoped - both remind me and parody my early years in college. It made me laugh! Though I did not go to art school per se, the first few years of the design cirriculum overlapped the art program. My first few studio classes - life drawing, art theory, etc., reminded me of this cast of self-righteous students and windy professors.There were parts of this movie that were too slow, too humorless beneath the surface. More biting parody would've been more interesting to me. The movie got wrapped up in its own adolescent storyline, as if the filmmakers thought suddenly to inject a "serious" plot into an otherwise sketch of a film. Not that I would've preferred no plot, but I wanted it to be smarter, more original. The characters at times were too one dimensional. My memory of art school was that if anything, the people were even more serious, committed, desparite, crazy. More sex and substan ... " [More]

A Portrait of the Artist as a Y ...
by BigJeffLebowski in BigJeffLebowski Blog

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"“I am able to have sex with any beautiful woman I want just because I am so great.” In many ways -- many more than are readily apparent -- the film Art School Confidential is about this conceit and the myriad manifestations of its basic ethos. It is uttered early in the film by a precocious, impressionable boy named Jerome, standing before his elementary school classmates, dressed as Pablo Picasso; the ability to speak it of himself as well as of his hero will become his life goal.Accepted to Strathmore, a small East Coast art school, Jerome (played now in post-adolescence by Max Minghella) arrives armed with a passion for his craft and the naïve wide-eyed idealism to pursue it past the point of reason. But like the barefoot hippie girl whose first step out of the safety of her parents’ car is onto a broken beer bottle on the campus entrance, his dreams will be tested and trampled before the end of the first semester.Aware and proud of his skills, Jerome e ... " [More]

movie year countdown #1 - 2006 ...
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"This is my first movie review in my “movie year countdown”. To read more about that check out my first Spout filmblog entry.Art School ConfidentialI've been a fan of Terry Zwigoff as a director since Crumb. Ghost World probably being my favorite, yet Bad Santa with a script idea by the Coen brothers I believe is the one that gives me the most laughs. When I saw that Zwigoff would be working with Daniel Clowes again, I had high hopes.Apparently a lot of other people did as well. Art School Confidential received some harsh criticism, seemingly more harsh than it would have been had it not been for the inevitable comparison to Ghost World. The reviews frightened me because I seemed to be initially in the same boat as many of those reviewers. All of those so harsh on this film seemed to be huge supporters of Zwigoff's previous work as well. It seems because of that reason many people reacted so excessively negatively to something that didn’t live up to ... " [More]

Movie year countdown viewing pr ...
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Here’s the dilemma. I have a list of well over three thousand movies I want to see saved on IMDB. I have a subscription to Netflix and recently every time I return a DVD it has been an extremely arduous task to make the decision as to which movie I should see next. In an effort to narrow down my choices and make the process of choosing slightly less overwhelming I have devised a system, almost a bit of a game for me. Here’s how it goes.For my first film selection, I have narrowed the options down to only films that were released in the year 2006. Then after I have watched that movie, my next selection would have to be a film released in 2005. Then I would see a film from 2004, then 2003, etc. The process of deciding is still laborious, but actually quite a bit more exciting. (I'm going by IMDB as my source for release years)I have already been making a list and have also already begun watching the films. I decided this might be a good time to start fooling ... " [More]

Art School Confidential
by Mully in Mully Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"6/10 Art school is hellTerry Zwigoff’s 2001 film Ghost World is still one of the most touching, funny and unique films I’ve seen in years. I thought Bad Santa was a strange choice as a follow-up, but couldn’t stop laughing all the way through. Now Zwigoff has reunited with his Ghost World scribe and comic book artist Daniel Clowes to make Art School Confidential and the result is not an undivided succes.Art School Confidential follows Jerome Platz (Max Minghella), who dreams of becoming the next Picasso and enrolls in the Strathmore art academy to learn how to do so. At Strathmore he encounters a bunch of art student cliches, a bunch of art professor cliches, a serial killer called The Strathmore Strangler and the most beautiful woman he has ever seen. What ensues are Jerome’s attempts at getting his work noticed, trying to overclass the it-boy in his class and hoping to win the heart of the beautiful Audrey. And the Strangler, well... he’s in there to ... " [More]

Re: NEW Group, Top 5 current di ...
by Risselada in Top 5

liked it.

"1. Joel and Ethan Coen 2. Jim Jarmusch 3. Hal Hartley 4. Tsai Ming-Liang 5. Terry Gilliam Gilliam was actually hard to say because I haven't seen several of his movies. Anyone seen Tideland yet? Werner Herzog is another one I thought of as well, but there are so many of his movies I haven't seen either. I also thought about Terry Zwigoff, but still haven't seen Art School Confidential yet either. And I almost wanted to say Aki Kaurismäki just based on The Man Without a Past. I haven't seen a single one of his other movies because they all seem to difficult to be able to find, but if most of them rival this film, he'd definitely be up there. Paul, this is a really cool list! I'm surprised someone else listed Tsai Ming-Liang. Badlands is one of my aboslute most favorite films. And Days of Heaven is extremely good. I just saw The Thin Red Line for the second time recently and didn't find it as good as I had remembered it. Mallick is such a mysterious figure. Have you seen ... " [More]

Tags: disapointing , Daniel-Clowes , angst , unique , roommates
View all