Movie Scene
Quirky 'Ghost World' a supernatural delight

By Claudia Puig
USA Today

Forlorn teen Enid (Thora Birch) hooks up with fried-chicken executive Seymour (Steve Buscemi) in "Ghost World." United Artists GHOST WORLD Three and one-half stars (out of four) Stars: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Ileana Douglas, Brad Renfro, Bob Balaban, Teri Garr Director: Terry Zwigoff Distributor: MGM Rating: R for language and sexual content

Simultaneously poignant, intelligent and edgy, it transports us to those awkward days just after high school graduation as responsible adulthood looms large.

This film combines the outrageous originality of "Chuck and Buck," the quirky humor of "Rushmore" and the cheeky satire of "Heathers." Credit goes to director Terry Zwigoff, whose last film was the offbeat documentary "Crumb."

"Ghost World" draws super, natural performances from Thora Birch (Kevin Spacey's disaffected daughter in "American Beauty"), Scarlett Johansson (the injured daughter in "The Horse Whisperer") and indie character actor Steve Buscemi, as well as Ileana Douglas (as an art teacher who is so politically correct she can't see straight).

But the movie belongs to Birch, who stars as Enid, a 17-year-old who trots around in miniskirts, colored stockings and clunky Doc Martens, and dyes her raven hair green, feigning a punk pose from the Sex Pistols era.

There's not much to the plot, but the razor-tongued Enid is such a spark plug that viewers willingly follow her misadventures. Enid and best pal Rebecca (Johansson) meet Seymour (Buscemi) while pretending to answer a personal ad. He's the sort of sad sack who talks incessantly about obscure blues recordings (on vinyl) and ``can't relate to 99 percent of humanity.'' Enid is a kindred spirit, having grown tired of the empty-headed surfers and ``neo-Bohemian losers'' that populate her world. She takes on a mission: to find the nerdy Seymour a girlfriend. Buscemi gives one of his best, most subtle performances, infusing Seymour with far more substance than the cliche geek he initially seems to be.

Seymour might be Enid's favorite cause, but she still needs to find gainful employment. So she takes a job at a movie theater but loses it the same day for telling a patron that ``after five minutes of this movie, you're going to wish you had 10 beers.''

This may be the rare summer movie in which that isn't true.