Ghost World

Ghost World is billed as a comedy, and I have seen reviews that insisted that parts of it are hilarious, but I really don't remember it as being funny.  Not that it tries to be funny and fails, but it is a dark comedy, really more of a quirky drama.

One quick note:  I have never been one to grasp symbolism very well, and there is a symbol in the movie.  I don't know what the bus means.  Death? I doubt it.  The chance to leave it all behind and start a new life?  More likely, but who knows?  Not me.

This movie was made in 2001 and stars Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, and Steve Buscemi.  I like the cast; otherwise I doubt I would have chosen to watch this movie given the plot description.

The story is about two girls just graduating from high school.  Both are extremely cynical and oh so wise, taking note of all the shortcomings of everyone around them and rejecting any sort of ordinary trajectory for their lives.  However, Rebecca (Johansson) begins to adjust to life after high school by accepting responsibility, getting a job and an apartment, while Enid (Birch) continues to see it all as too stupid for her, and the friends begin to drift apart.  At the same time, the girls play a joke on a man who posts in the want ads (Buscemi), and Enid finds herself involved with this much older man who, like her, finds other people strange and hard to relate to.

If I were a teenage girl, I would have probably liked this movie better.  As it is, it's not a bad movie, but there's not enough there for me to recommend it.