Art School Confidential (DVD, 2006)

Considering the source material’s length, it may be inaccurate to say “Art School Confidential” is an adaptation of, or based on, Dan Clowes’ comic book story of the same name. Instead, it’s fair to say the movie was INSPIRED BY a four-page story that originally appeared in the indy comic book, ”Eightball” (available in the trade-paperback, “Twentieth Century Eightball”).

I loved the first half of “Art School Confidential.” The dialog is witty and realistic and anyone who has ever read the comic book (all four pages of it) can see how it inspired the hilarious classroom scenes and the scenes with protagonist Jerome Platz’s film-major roommate. The first half of the movie nicely leads you down the path of nostalgic school-day memories…

…If only the movie would have continued along this path.

Instead it takes-off in a far-fetched direction, with unexplained coincidences (Why does Jerome’s classroom buddy take him to see a washed-out art school graduate?) and awkward, under-developed plot progression (The relationship between Jerome’s love, Audrey, and star-student, Jonah, is bizarre and comes out of nowhere).

I can’t go much further into detail without revealing a major plot point (though it's kind-of obvious), but if you watch the movie you’ll understand.

...And I do recommend watching the movie.

Overall, I actually enjoyed “Art School Confidential.” The love story is quite charming and the humor made me laugh enough that I can forgive little nuisances such as plot development and plausibility...

Watch it, but don't expect a masterpiece.