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.
Curiously, this relentlessly cynical tone turns out sounding refreshingly original compared to the usual pieties in the genre.
– Andrew Sarris,
New York Observer,
12 Jul 2006
fresh:
No matter which is the real imitator, life or art, Art School Confidential does its own fine job skewering both.
– Ted Fry,
Seattle Times,
12 May 2006
rotten:
The film loses its way with multiple subplots, becoming a hodgepodge that isn't particularly hard to follow, but, far worse, provides no compelling reason to bother.
– Ruthe Stein,
San Francisco Chronicle,
12 May 2006
rotten:
A movie with the odd, tired joke about art and artists, a college romance that isn't romantic, and a plot twist that doesn't twist at all.
– Roger Moore,
Orlando Sentinel,
12 May 2006
fresh:
Zwigoff's angry expose of this intense, tiny subculture isn't fair to anyone in the art world, but if you can stomach the overstatement, it's often scathingly funny. And it's sometimes scathingly smart.