A. O. Scott reviews "Art School Confidential," a comedy directed by Terry Zwigoff based on a screenplay by the comic-book artist Daniel Clowes. watch
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Length: 02:31
Posted: 7/23/2009
This holiday season the traditional Christmas tale will never be the same with the cleverly twisted, merrily irreverent story of a Santa so bad he's wickedly funny. Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa stars Billy Bob Thornton as one of the most crooked, corrupted and downright hysterical Kris Kringles ever to grace the screen. Inspired by a mix of movie classics including the outrageous one-liners and outcasts of The Bad News Bears and the riotous impertinence of South Park, with a dash of the holiday spirit of A Christmas Carol, albeit one that would make Dickens wince, Bad Santa is a Christmas comedy unlike any other.
On the heels of two films that brought him a hip, cult following and critical acclaim ? Crumb and Ghost World ? director Terry Zwigoff emerges with his most accessible comedy to date, all the while pulling no punches on a wild ride through Christmas' outlandish, funnier side. Laughing riotously all the way, the film skewers such classic holiday traditions as rampant commercialism watch
Filmmaker Terry Zwigoff and comic artist and screenwriter Daniel Clowes, who collaborated for the acclaimed 2001 comedy-drama Ghost World, team up once again for this offbeat satire. Jerome (Max Minghella) is an aspiring artist who arrives at a prestigious East Coast art institute to study. While Jerome enjoys daydreams of becoming the best-respected painter on Earth and winning the hearts of his female classmates, he soon learns the sad truth -- his "cool artist" act is old hat in the big city, and as he's surrounded by every art school clich on Earth, practically nothing about him stands out. Determined to be recognized whatever the consequences, Jerome maps out a bizarre plan to become famous that has some unexpected consequences. Loosely adapted from a story in Clowes' comic book Eightball, Art School Confidential also stars John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Anjelica Huston, and Sophia Myles. - Mark Deming, All Movie Guide watch
