Number 819 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 2001 black-comedy drama Ghost World.
Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) have just graduated high school. Other than living together, they have no plans for the future. For a laugh, they respond to the lonely, middle-aged Seymour's (Steve Buscemi) classified dating ad. But seeing how devastated their actions have made him, they decide to make amends by finding him love for real.
I have to admit that this film had to grow on me. At first, Enid and Rebecca were a little annoying. Enid was, at least, Rebecca didn't seem to have a life or personality outside of her friend. But both girls are very nihilistic, bemoaning the exploitative nature of the capitalist world. There isn't anything inherently wrong with nihilistic characters, but there has to be more to them than their "I hate the world" shtick. Otherwise they're little more than annoying, negative Noras. Hardly characters you like and want to root for.
Things picked up immensely with Steve Buscemi's character of Seymour. Buscemi excels in anything he's in and Seymour was no exception. Seymour is a sad, lonely man who only finds joy in his extensive collection of blues records. Like Thora and Rebecca, he is cynical, but unlike them, he isn't completely jaded. He is still trying to find happiness rather than resigning himself to a lifetime of misery. This did make him a likeable character. And he and Enid brought out the best of each other. As Enid schemes to find him love, she realises she is falling in love with him, and he with her. Eventually, they consummate their relationship.
In a post #metoo movement world, you could probably read a weird subtext of an older man sleeping with a nineteen year old Thora Birch, but 2001 might as well be two centuries ago. And the past is another world.
This was a strange film. If you can get past the slow beginning, then I think it's well worth a watch.
I thought this is good piece of work. The girls were annoying as James says. But their characters were believable. So many young girls seem to go through a nihilistic phase and act superior, when they know nothing of the world. Thora Birch was very good in the leading role, and Steve Buscemi was brilliant, (as usual), in his sad role. His collecting fetish was a bit too near to home for comfort. What really made the film for me was the very last scene in which a ghost? bus picks up the confused old man and Enid leaving an empty bench.
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