Ghost World (2001)

★★★★
Enid (Thora Birch) sits in the front row at her high school graduation. Decked out in her cap and gown, she watches as a classmate in a wheelchair and back brace gives a speech describing high school as the training wheels for the bicycle of real life. A trio of rappers in full '90s apparel (still in style in 2001) runs out on stage to entertain the class and audience. Enid is not amused. Her friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) is equally unimpressed. After the ceremony, the two run out of the auditorium and stomp on their caps. That's what they think of their high school years. What do characters like this do afterwards? This is the story of Enid and Rebecca and that phase of their life when the future is uncertain. Based on the comic book by Daniel Clowes and directed by Terry Zwigoff, Ghost World is a funny and touching story taking place during that uncertain time when someone is old enough to start thinking about the future but too young to commit to anything.

Enid and Rebecca were never part of the in crowd, but they like it that way. They comment on whatever displeases them and laugh at each other's remarks. At the graduation after party—an event that appears out of character for them to attend but they do anyway—Rebecca says "[The music] is so bad it's almost good." "This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again," Enid retorts. They think alike. They have a few friends. Josh (Brad Renfro) works at a Sidewinder convenience store and has to put up with the girls' busybody natures. During a visit, they laugh at an eccentric guest (Dave Sheridan) who wields nunchakus and hilariously reminds the hotheaded Greek owner of his country's contribution to the world. Enid and Rebecca don't fit the mold, but they do express fascination with the occasional odd bystander. At a diner, they spy a couple whom they describe as Satanists. They follow the couple to satisfy their curiosity and stumble onto a '50s diner with an identity crisis.

Looking through the personal ads, they spot an ad for a guy looking for a woman he met on an airport shuttle. Curious, Enid calls the man and arranges a meeting at the '50s diner. The man shows up. Seymour (Steve Buscemi) sits alone at the counter in anticipation of a woman who never arrives. Enid and Rebecca watch him curiously, then follow him when he leaves. They later meet him at a garage sale, where he sells old records. Enid is fascinated and wants to know him better. Meanwhile, Rebecca gets a job as a barista to help pay for her first apartment. Enid and Rebecca plan to live together, but Enid's increasing interest in Seymour distracts her from her own commitments to get a job and pay for her half of the apartment. She also has to take a summer art class to make up for missing credits from high school. The relationship between Enid and Rebecca turns rocky when Enid helps Seymour look for a girlfriend, which leads to complications when the plan works. Enid's growing discontent and Rebecca's desire to spread her wings a little results in conflicting priorities and heated tempers.

Ghost World is a coming-of-age story that finds humor in the unlikeliest of places by channeling Enid's angst and turning it loose on everyone. This is not a matter of Enid simply insulting everyone for our entertainment. Every one of her observations and frustrations are born from her inability to relate to anyone. She lives with her single father (Bob Balaban). We never find out about her mother. We do meet a woman who wants to play the role of motherly figure (an uncredited Teri Garr), but Enid doesn't make it easy. We figure her fragmented home life contributed to her behavior, and we're seeing the results manifest themselves. When she finally lands her first job, she proves ill-equipped at carrying out her duties. The results are funny, but her motivation is complex. She has a problem with suggestive selling. She calls it sleazy. She tries to adapt and gets fired after one day. Even Rebecca is exasperated.

Despite her hostility to society at large, she has some sense of loyalty to people like her. At the graduation party, she observes with sadness how another loner sits by himself and may never be seen again after that night. She voices her approval for the nunchakus-carrying Sidewinder customer Doug due to his defiance of authority. When visiting Rebecca at her job, she is excited to learn that a daily customer uses a wheelchair even though he can walk. "That rules!" she proclaims, although Rebecca doesn't agree. Rebecca is starting to mature a little, and it's the first sign of separation between the two. Enid's continuing friendship with Seymour is only widening the rift. Seymour has long been without a woman, which has produced some personality quirks and atypical hobbies that Enid likes. She attends a stuffy party at his apartment and finds it comforting. In some ways, he's a positive influence. When she finds in his collection an old ad poster featuring a caricatured black man, she brings it to her art class and successfully defends its artistic worthiness.

At the heart of this amazing little movie is Thora Birch. She projects torment and loathing in ways that are both troubling and witty. She was hot off the success of the Academy Award-winning American Beauty, so she carried a fair amount of street cred into this. She isn't trying to be funny when she delivers her taunts and insults with dry detachment. It's just her nature. She is funny the same way Adam Sandler was funny in Punch-Drunk Love. Their characters come from the same place and view the world similarly, but they project their irritation in completely opposite ways. Sandler's Barry Egan was outwardly aggressive. Enid bottles up her emotions and has a pouty expression on her face, but we can detect the conflicting emotions within her. She's a joy to watch. Scarlett Johansson, still a teenager and best known for Home Alone 3 and The Horse Whisperer, makes her remarkable talent apparent here when her career was just getting started and with great things on the horizon. As Rebecca, she has the same cynical view of the world, but she is more adaptable. Her job and the responsibilities of moving out on her own give her a taste of her role in a productive society.

Enid started out content with her friend Rebecca and small circle of fellow travelers like Josh. They're like the angsty versions of Romy and Michele. They have little in common with anyone outside of their bubble. With Rebecca's sights set on an apartment, Enid feels the bubble getting smaller and its contents becoming mundane. Ghost World is about lonely outsiders and how they get by in the world. At some point in his life, Seymour came to believe that his routine was not going to vary much. He is past the point where he could have made a big change and alter the trajectory of his existence for the better. Now, he is comfortable. When a glimmer of hope for him appears thanks to Enid's efforts, he ruins it. His reality is that of a middle-aged man with a middle-aged roommate—a reality that is simple yet rewarding.

Enid likes Seymour but realizes she could be like him one day. He fascinates her, but his interests are not really her interests. She takes his poster to her art class partially to show up another student's "found object" art piece. They have that loneliness in common, but events towards the end of the movie help her understand that at her age she can still find happiness. There's still time to break out of her bubble or maybe expand it or allow others in. Her prospects in that town have dried up. She had a window of opportunity—a pathway to a prestigious art academy—that would have given her a solid start, but she blew it due to her failure to commit. The ending, though ambiguous, helps illustrate her need to look beyond city limits. She sees something that would have seemed impossible only a few days prior. This otherworldly event ignites something in her. We see it on her face. It's a moment of realization. Enid needs to develop ambition and work towards a better future. Finally, when presented with one last chance to escape, she must decide if it's worth the risk to ride off into the unknown.

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