Another look at "Art School Confidential"

Back in May a few of you may remember me raving about the new film from writer Daniel Clowes and director Terry Zwigoff (the team who gave us the modern classic "Ghost World"), "Art School Confidential." It didn't review nearly as well as it should have (34% on Rotten Tomatoes) and it came and went from the few theaters it actually played at very quickly. Now that it's on DVD everyone has a chance to check it out and see what a great movie it really is. Here's what I said back in May:

It's the story of Jerome (Max Minghella), a young man who dreams of being the greatest artist of the 21st century, and hopes that Strathmore University will be the place where he can flourish. He quickly realizes however that his work will never be appreciated, at least not as long as he's at Strathmore. Surrounded by every annoying kind of person you meet in college- the Middle-Aged Mom, the Angry Girl who may or may not be a lesbian, the Hippie Chick, the Suck Up, and of course, that guy who absolutely "gets" everything and finds deep meaning where there is none- Jerome is constantly criticized by his classmates even though he seems to be the only one with any discernible talent.
Now...I have to explain for those of you who haven't been to college...all of these people are real. And they all exist to annoy the ever-loving crap out of those of us who just can't wait for it all to be over. I have to make special mention of that guy who "gets" everything. In the film that character is named Eno (Jeremy Guskin), and honestly, every time he spoke I went back and forth between wanting to tear my own face off, and punching his. He was so real it hurt. And so are the rest of them, as Clowes fully develops them in the script.
Jerome's only friends are Bardo, the one unpretentious person in the entire class ("Dodgeball's" Joel David Moore), and Audrey, the artist's model that Jerome has feelings for (Sophia Myles). Jerome's roommate, Vince (Ethan Suplee), is a film major working on his student masterpiece about the on-going unsolved murders happening on campus. The clips we see of his horrendous movie are uproarious. "Art School Confidential" is a hilarious and cynical good time. Every pretentious clown who ever went to college is a target and none of them are spared. It only falters a bit near the end. It takes about twenty minutes to wrap up what should take more like ten. But this is only a minor quibble. There is excellent supporting work from John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Anjelica Huston, and Steve Buscemi (pretty much my favorite guy ever). This movie is a heck of a lot of fun. Highly recommended. 9/10

So yeah...go rent this movie, you'll be glad you did.