Art School Confidential (2006)

Starting from childhood attempts at illustration, the protagonist pursues his true obsession to art school. But as he learns how the art world really works, he finds that he must adapt his vision to the reality that confronts him.

Director:

Terry Zwigoff

Writers:

Daniel Clowes (screenplay), Daniel Clowes (comic story) (as Dan Clowes)

Stars:

Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, John Malkovich

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Max Minghella	...	Jerome
Sophia Myles	...	Audrey
John Malkovich	...	Professor Sandiford
Jim Broadbent	...	Jimmy
Matt Keeslar	...	Jonah
Ethan Suplee	...	Vince
Joel David Moore	...	Bardo
Nick Swardson	...	Matthew
Anjelica Huston	...	Art History Teacher
Adam Scott	...	Marvin Bushmiller
Jack Ong	...	Professor Okamura
Scoot McNairy	...	Army-Jacket
Jeremy Guskin	...	Eno
Monika Ramnath	...	Flower
Isaac Laskin	...	Kiss-Ass

Storyline

Jerome, a kid from the suburbs who loves to draw, goes to New York City's Strathmore College for his freshman year as a drawing major. Competition and petty jealousy consume faculty and students, with an end-of-first-semester best-student award held out as a grand plum. Worse, a strangler is on the loose, killing people on or next to campus. The idealistic Jerome falls in love with Audrey, a student who models for life-drawing classes and who responds to his sweetness. But he has a rival: the clean-cut, manly Jonah, also a first-year drawing student, whose primitive work draws raves and Audrey's attention. As cynicism seems to corrode everything, Jerome is desperate to win.

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Plot Keywords:

art school | nude modeling | nude model | art model | art class | 

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Taglines:

Who said anything about talent?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including sexual references, nudity and a scene of violence

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Classics [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Akademia tajemniczych sztuk pieknych

Filming Locations:

Communications Center, Los Angeles City College - 855 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$135,733, 7 May 2006

Gross USA:

$3,297,137

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,306,629

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Sony Pictures Classics, Mr. Mudd

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 102 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Richard Bakalyan's last theatrical movie.

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Goofs

When Jerome's roommate, the fashion designer, is sewing on his machine, it wasn't threaded correctly. The spool was on the bobbin loader, not the spool pin where it should be.

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Quotes

Vince: Man, if she were my girlfriend, I'd be pounding that night and day.

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Crazy Credits

An extra scene featuring the actors in Vince's film is shown after the credits.

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Connections

References The Munsters (1964)

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Soundtracks

In Storm and Sunshine
Written by John C. Heed
Performed by The Eastman Wind Ensemble
Courtesy of Decca Music Group Ltd.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

This film impressed the hell out of me

I came into this film expecting a mean, rude comedy in the vein of Zwigoff's previous effort Bad Santa (a film which has more brains than it gets credit for). For the first 3/4 or so of the film, that's what I got, and I enjoyed every second. Towards the last bit, the film takes a turn darker than you would expect. This sudden twist, unexpected as it was, did not feel trite or convoluted. More fascinating.

Make no mistake this a dark comedy in the truest definition. There is something about the ending that is supremely haunting.

Ethan Suplee provides the hyper-actively aggressive role he has become beloved for. Malkovich does not disappoint as the burnt-out and oh-so-full-of-crap art professor. Jim Broadbent channels Chuck Bukowski here as he barks like a pit-bull and alternately purrs like a tabby as the disheveled failed artist/ nihilistic mentor of our boy Jerome, who just may be the only unpretentious and truly talented student at Strathmore University. Throw in Anjelica Huston and Steve Buscemi in delightfully understated roles, a string of murders courtesy of the mythical Strathmore Strangler, and the positively stunning Sophia Myles as the nude drawing class model Audrey who becomes both the object of Jerome's affection and the source of his disillusion, and you have got a dysfunctional masterpiece.