'Art School Confidential': Unfocused story, underused actors

Director Terry Zwigoff and graphic novel writer Daniel Clowes reteam for "Art School Confidential," but it's only a ghost of "Ghost World," their 2001 collaboration.

The wry hipster attitude at first is familiar as the film charts the hard-knocks education of Jerome (Max Minghella), who enrolls in fictional Strathmore Institute's art school hoping to be the 21st century's Picasso.

Sony Pictures Classics 'Art School Confidential' C- The verdict: An uneven, seriocomic art school satire. Director: Terry Zwigoff Starring: Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Matt Keeslar Run time: 102 minutes Release date: May 5, 2006 Rating: R for language including sexual references, nudity and a scene of violence. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Art School Confidential'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

It doesn't quite work out that way.

Largely a series of sketches in its first half, "Confidential" introduces us to the college's other wannabes: the multi-pierced chick with the giant stuffed panda; the hippie girl whose bare feet have a close encounter with a broken beer bottle; and especially career student Bardo (Joel Moore) and Jerome's obnoxious filmmaker roommate Vince (Ethan Suplee). These guys are both supposed to be funny. Nope.

Bardo says things like, "Oh wow, another ironic pop culture reference." He sounds like a pale imitation of the disaffected but weirdly adorable Enid (Thora Birch) from "Ghost World."

As Jerome takes classes from Professor Sandiford (John Malkovich), a mediocre painter himself, "Confidential" depicts art school as a hotbed of affectation, charlatanism and murderous competition. Nothing really eye-opening there.

Much of the movie focuses on Jerome's longing for gorgeous Audrey (Sophia Myles), a nude model in his drawing class who also earns the attention of a slightly creepy student named Jonah (Matt Keeslar).

But halfway through, the film changes tone and direction, focusing on the mystery of random serial killings around the campus. The shift doesn't really work. It feels like a sort of bait-and-switch for filmgoers expecting one kind of movie, then finding themselves watching another.

"Confidential" is best as a showcase for good actors somewhat underused: Malkovich, one of the film's producers, as a fellow who knows his own dreams of being a Picasso are forever out of reach; "Ghost World" alum Steve Buscemi as the owner of a restaurant-gallery that serves as a launching pad for artists; Anjelica Huston as a calm, wise instructor; and especially Jim Broadbent as Jimmy, one of Strathmore's many graduates whose failure in the real world has led him to a grim trash heap of an apartment and an even grimmer state of mind.

Like many things in "Confidential," though, it's hard to say how we're meant to take Jimmy. As a joke? A danger? Likewise, it's difficult to take seriously Jerome's idealized love for the (idealized) Audrey. In a movie stuffed with snark, the romance just doesn't seem real.

That's the weird thing about "Confidential." It's often as naive as it is knowing and can feel as unfocused and sketchy as a film one of Strathmore's students might make.