Art School Confidential

C+

Directed by Terry Zwigoff

Based on the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff's "Art School Confidential" is, to be brief, an at times amusing but essentially quite a bad effort.

Young, idealistic Max enrolls at Strathmore Art Institute, wanting to become the "greatest artist of the 20th Century," only to discover that art school may not really be about making good art, but rather more about marketing one's art to the impressionable and fickle teachers and students that populate the school (You mean art is about image rather than product? What?) Max is re-energized, however, when he meets beautiful, elusive Audrey who he immediately falls in love with, only to be crushed when she goes for hunky, talentless (but wildly popular in the local art circle) Jonah. As Max attempts to regain Adurey's effections (did he ever have them to begin with?) the ugly underbelly of art school reveals itself more fully, leading to a shocking climax...of art.

Poking fun at the pretentiousness of the art world, regardless of what some may say, never gets old. In this respect, "Art School Confidential" has some brilliant moments where it openly mocks the ridiculousness of most "serious" art and take jobs at the pompous phonies who produce them. had "Art School Confidential" stayed the course and simply spent 90 minutes skewering self important, conceited, and marginally talented "artists," I probably would have loved this movie. Unfortunately, however, "Art School Confidential" spends too much time trying to build intrigue around Max's various tortured relationships and his obsession witn Audrey as well as mapping his attempt at winning her hand through his artistic brio. The film, in many ways, suffers from an identity crisis, not knowing if it wants to be a straight up comedy, a satire, or rather a semi serious dramady. The presence of a host of reputable actors in this production, including Steve Buschemi, John Malkovich, Jim Braodbent and Agelica Huston, might have caused thd director to shy away from the laughs and bring on the high brow seriousness which is tragic because there was so much promise to begin with. Indeed, when one of Max's classmates applies a pair of car jumpers to his nipples and tell his friend to "give him the juice," only to find himself blown page into the stone age, I too was ready to be blown away (albeit not via the same method...) It's pretty disappointing "Art School Confidential" couldn't build on some of these ideas and jsut deliver a hilarious satire, something it was more than capable of doing had it wanted to.