Art School Confidential 2/5 reviewed by Mike
Sometimes there are movies that are so much more dissapointing than a regular bad movie, because you know that with just a little bit more effort, it could have been really great. Thats kind of what happened with "Art School Confidential." It hurts me to give this thing a 2, because it was almost really good, and I really wanted it to be good. The trailer held so much promise...
The basic idea is that this young kid named Jerome (Max Minghella) goes off to art school to become the next great artist. On the way he has girl problems, wierd roomates, and all kind of wacky hijinks, with cameos from cool people like Steve Buscemi and John Malkovitch. Sound fun?
The first third of the movie was hysterical. If you've ever studied art, the jokes were so spot on, and accurate to what the art community and especially art school is like. I felt like I was back in my art classes, listening to the same rediculous conversations that took place. The big problem with all of this was that there wasn't anything going on. It was just a bunch of funny anecdotes. Yeah, it was freakin' hilarious, but I kept waiting for the movie to start. There just wasn't any story at all. I felt like I was watching a much longer trailer for the movie I was already watching. Again--it was super funny, but had no substance.
Eventually a love story starts, but it's really weakly done and it rarely makes sense. I'm supposed to believe that this kid is totally in love with this girl (who is kindof dense and wierd) who he's talked to like 3 or 4 times? The characters don't even know each other at all, but they're making huge decisions based on these gigantic emotions that just weren't there. I mean, what kid (no matter how depressed) tries to kill themselves over a girl he's barely even talked to? I just never felt there was any real emotional motivation for what the characters were doing.
In the last twenty minutes or so, they finally realized that, "Oh wait, we should probably start having a plot," so this cop story about a murderer comes in. It was eluded to earlier in the film, but even then, it still seems to come out of nowhere. On top of that, the ending is one of the cheesiest moments in all cinematic history. I cringed so hard that my face froze in a grimace for like 15 minutes.
Parts of the movie were so badly done that I figured it had to be parody. Surely, someone wouldn't take this seriously. But if it is parody, it's a very weak one. It seemed like the director and writer weren't sure themselves whether or not this was parody or a real story. It's either a really weak parody, or a really weak story. I wish they had picked one and went with it. Because this could have been a really emotional, touching story (even loaded with comedy) or it could have been a hilarious mockery of what hollywood films are, but it just couldn't decide. And that makes me sad. I will reiterate though, if you've ever been to art school or have studied art, this might be a low 3 for you, just because some of the jokes are so spot on. I just wish they had really taken an honest look at the script, and recast a few parts, because this movie could have been so awesome.
See this movie if:
-You've been to art school and thought it was rediculous and stupid
-You haven't seen Ethan Suplee since he played Frankie on "Boy Meets World" and you really miss him.
-You're just like the girls that sat behind me in the theater, who constantly talked about how hot Max Minghella was, making little "mmm!" sounds to emphasize their point.
Don't see this movie if:
-You're looking for a good emotional love story
-You're opposed to seeing naked shlongs in the first ten minutes of a movie
-You've got something better to do, like play Final Fantasy games for hours on end.
The basic idea is that this young kid named Jerome (Max Minghella) goes off to art school to become the next great artist. On the way he has girl problems, wierd roomates, and all kind of wacky hijinks, with cameos from cool people like Steve Buscemi and John Malkovitch. Sound fun?
The first third of the movie was hysterical. If you've ever studied art, the jokes were so spot on, and accurate to what the art community and especially art school is like. I felt like I was back in my art classes, listening to the same rediculous conversations that took place. The big problem with all of this was that there wasn't anything going on. It was just a bunch of funny anecdotes. Yeah, it was freakin' hilarious, but I kept waiting for the movie to start. There just wasn't any story at all. I felt like I was watching a much longer trailer for the movie I was already watching. Again--it was super funny, but had no substance.
Eventually a love story starts, but it's really weakly done and it rarely makes sense. I'm supposed to believe that this kid is totally in love with this girl (who is kindof dense and wierd) who he's talked to like 3 or 4 times? The characters don't even know each other at all, but they're making huge decisions based on these gigantic emotions that just weren't there. I mean, what kid (no matter how depressed) tries to kill themselves over a girl he's barely even talked to? I just never felt there was any real emotional motivation for what the characters were doing.
In the last twenty minutes or so, they finally realized that, "Oh wait, we should probably start having a plot," so this cop story about a murderer comes in. It was eluded to earlier in the film, but even then, it still seems to come out of nowhere. On top of that, the ending is one of the cheesiest moments in all cinematic history. I cringed so hard that my face froze in a grimace for like 15 minutes.
Parts of the movie were so badly done that I figured it had to be parody. Surely, someone wouldn't take this seriously. But if it is parody, it's a very weak one. It seemed like the director and writer weren't sure themselves whether or not this was parody or a real story. It's either a really weak parody, or a really weak story. I wish they had picked one and went with it. Because this could have been a really emotional, touching story (even loaded with comedy) or it could have been a hilarious mockery of what hollywood films are, but it just couldn't decide. And that makes me sad. I will reiterate though, if you've ever been to art school or have studied art, this might be a low 3 for you, just because some of the jokes are so spot on. I just wish they had really taken an honest look at the script, and recast a few parts, because this movie could have been so awesome.
See this movie if:
-You've been to art school and thought it was rediculous and stupid
-You haven't seen Ethan Suplee since he played Frankie on "Boy Meets World" and you really miss him.
-You're just like the girls that sat behind me in the theater, who constantly talked about how hot Max Minghella was, making little "mmm!" sounds to emphasize their point.
Don't see this movie if:
-You're looking for a good emotional love story
-You're opposed to seeing naked shlongs in the first ten minutes of a movie
-You've got something better to do, like play Final Fantasy games for hours on end.
posted by Hankinstien at 1:21 AM
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