Too many fans seem to be blown away

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Dear Terry Zwigoff, Art School Confidential was a hilarious film. I have never been to art school so I don't think I got all the jokes. I also know nothing about paintings or modern art. But this film about shy and self absorbed young artist (Max Minghella) and his life at an art school where he meets many eccentric characters, falls in love and his desperate and felonious attempts to achieve fame are as dark and entertaining as Enid's battle against phony's and dullards in Ghost World. Daniel Clowes really packs it in with the jokes and the social commentary. I cannot think of a single unremarkable scene in the whole film. Every single scene is worth watching over and over again. The supporting cast was astonishingly brilliant. Jim Broadbent deserves special mention. I often rewatch the scenes which he appears in. The part where he calls for a plague to wipe off the human race was very well written and acted. The character who is so disillusioned with the state of the human race that he has to murder people for inspiration was very interesting. Adam Scott as the prickly successful artist had one of the best scenes in the whole film. Jeanette Brox was terrific as the irritable and shabbily dressed Milo. Joel David Moore as the lazy art student was the perfect foil for Max Minghella's's tenacious lead character. There were so many other brilliant bit players in the film. I could recognize most of these actors if they appeared in other films. That is how good they were. Art School Confidential, like Ghost World is one of those films where you feel like the characters are your close friends and you can empathize with their plight in the face of a cruel and indifferent world. Best Regards, Pimpin. (10/10)

So there seems to be a lot of debate amongst people who have watched this movie. Some say the movie completely changes half way through, others say those people just don't get that the movie is the ultimate jab at the art world today. I myself completely believe it abandons what made the movie good in the first place. Don't get me wrong I get what the movie was going for in the end, but I'm sorry if this movie is supposed to be the ultimate jab at how the art world works today then the movie is completely full of itself. Of course from the early parts of the movie there is hints that the movie could move into darker places and the movie was poking fun at the art world from the start, but give me a break. The way this movie goes from a funny black comedy and just completely turns dark half way through is an insult to the viewer because it abandons why people liked the movie in the first place. Now I get that the mood changes because Jerome's idea of art and the world around him changes, but there is ways to convey that message without removing the sarcastic/funny edge. In all honesty if the whole idea of this movie was to get to the dark ending, then the first half of the movie should of been more in line with the last half. I feel like 2 different people made this movie and never consulted each other on what they were doing. One half seems to be a funny "haha" jab at how stupid the art world can be and the last half feels like a big F U! to the art world. Funny thing is that I watched this movie with my partner who is a painter and he loved how the movie poked fun at all the dumb things he had to go through at art school, but when the movie went completely dark he said and I quote "that last half was f*cking stupid".I do think people should watch this movie, but just beware to not get caught up in the funny side because you'll be disappointed.Oh yeah, I should also mention that the love story plays a pivotal role in this movie which you'll see when you watch it. But!!! no matter how much the love story is integral to the whole story, it does not excuse the movie going from a black comedy about art, school, love and life to entirely dark.I could really say so much more because there are things I didn't mention, but just go watch it and come to your own conclusions.

OK, its kind of rare i review a movie negatively when its overall very positive by others. Usually I'm more the guy that gonna give a 6-7 to a movie when the general note is 2.3.4 or so.... But here i am sorry but i can't do anything else. This movie was labelled as comedy at the video club, the writing on the back was showing this would be a funny comedy of a guy in an art school. Not all movies can be American pie, but i was expecting goofy, funny stuff, especially when it says the "hero" make a plan to conquer the girl of his dream. But no, it end up like a stupid story about a strangler on the campus never mentioned in the synopsis, the movie goes on a completely different way and it finish BAM STYLE when you don't even know whats gonna happen to the main guy, you don't even know if he want to go out of prison or not... Seriously, there was maybe 1 or 2 moments where i had a little smile and thats it, overall that was not funny at all. There is a comment on the cover saying " a pitch perfect comedy" ... I'm sorry but no, JUST NO, its not a comedy at all. Call it a drama, fine, and maybe for a drama that would be good, but i never liked drama, and i don't like to be mislead in my choices of movie... The highlight for me was seeing Sophia Miles naked, but i have this scene on my HD for years... actually i didn't even knew back then it came from that movie, just searched for Sophia Miles naked... cause i loved her as Erika in Underworld.... Seriously a movie to forget, the only redeeming factor is that it cost 4 bucks, and i can probably resell it for a buck in a pawnshop... So that would be just like i rented it... at least.

I think if nothing else this film had ONE purpose and did it well, that is it exposes the elephant in the room that no art student or art-minded person claims to notice, that is just how annoying pretensions in art school can be sometimes and how Art Professors seem to be less and less apt to cultivate skill and push students to "open up" without understanding the fundamentals they wish to break down. Case and point, many original "art rebels" going back 100 years had very formal training and no conceptual minds to guide them -YET they are the most imitated and emulated. Today what you have are ALL conceptual minds doing the teaching and NO little or no formal training being offered. Students are fed a diet of Western art history and idealism -veering away from the very skills that began it all. Mediums, brushes, how to mix color, understanding how paint behaves.I think many of the reviews that are the most negative are from those that just didn't like to see this particular subject parodied. Oh yes you have stereotypes and things that don't really happen but -There is truth behind it. Art students all feel the pressure and desire to be great -as an all or nothing proposition at an insane long shot -so how could you make that funny? You make some generalizations, caricature a few "types" that might actually be based on some truth. I love the critiques for example -and everyone getting an "A" -on one hand you want to know you earned it but on the other you know that if you turned in something that really sucked (like that of a certain classmate) you might still get that "A".Then again I know nothing of film or of the career paths and history of the director for that matter -BUT I can't help but to wonder if all the "high speech" and "expert" clinical analysis about this film is not a little biased on account of those that don't want to see art students laughed at. Those that would laugh more at artsy people might also favor another kind of comedy -like "American Pie" or "Meet the Fockers" - it's too dark to be mainstream but for the "aficionado of film" it makes fun of the WRONG people - "Heathers" was a hit because it made fun of Jocks and small town thinking after all.