Trapped in a Graphic Novel: Ghost World

The Rotten Tomatoes show recently did a list of the 5 Best Comic Book Movies, putting Ghost World at #1. I was rather shocked and slightly appalled, even though I hadn't seen the film yet. It's been an indie darling since it came out, and everyone who has seen it has praised it, including my wife. People have tried explaining it and this was my conclusion before seeing it: It's a dark movie about two high school girls who pretend to like Steve Buschemi, but then trick him in the end as part of a practical joke. None of that is correct in anyway. The movie is bleak, but it's far from dark and they aren't really tricking Buschemi through the film.

The film is sort of an anti-Hollywood film, and every rule that the film business has learned over the past 100 years, and is usually there for good reason, this film breaks.
1. The heroes have no plan, goal or drive. 2. This was directed by a documentary filmmaker. 3. The original author not only wrote the screenplay, but was on set to consult. 4. There is no real ending.
I don't find any problems with numbers 1 and 4. The problem is the directing and writing in this film.
First off, the cinematography was gosh awful. And that's coming from me, a guy who majored in Screenwriting. The framing was a total mess. Sometimes heads were too close to the edge of the screen for entire shots sometimes. The angle was akward at other times. And then the mise en scene was atrocious. Apparently they never bothered to look into the camera before shooting, because so many shots are ugly and misplaced, even easy shots where people are just talking. Next up is the directing. The directors main two jobs as far as what's on screen are: What's on screen! And making sure the actors are acting. Something that involves both is blocking; where the actors move...while on the screen. At times the blocking was totally absent, as if a freshman director was at the helm. For instance, after the graduation scene when the two girls are walking away from the gym; they're talking about something stupid, flip the school off, turn around and stand there for 3 seconds. They stand there, then as if on cue or trying to remember what to do, they slowly realize the scene is still going. After that realization, they remember that they're supposed to go sit down on the bench. That's bush league. And that wasn't the only time where the blocking was totally amateur.
Thora Birch was fine, she can hold her own. But Scarlett Johansson is just a pretty face, she needs to be coached at all times, otherwise you get an untrained poodle pissing on the judge. And who should be coaching her? The director, someone with acting experience, not someone who is best known for the documentary Crumb. (Which I hear is fantastic.)
The second rule I speak of: the writer. This film is why you don't get the original writer to write the film. Let alone pair him with a documentary filmmaker to write it together. The first 10 minutes made me feel like I was back in my Freshman screenwriting class. Screenplay after screenplay was about two young people talking about nothing at a diner, or on the phone, or on the phone then at the diner. But it wasn't just the first 10 minutes, that lasted at least to the 25 minute mark before anything real actually happened, besides graduating. That's another thing I feel a need to gripe about. After they leave their grad ceremony, they walk out by themselves and just sit. Where are their families? And why at that time did Thora Birch get a report saying she needed to take another class? Instead of passing her a diploma, they pass her that paper?
So back to the script...there were whole scenes where nothing new, exciting or important happened. The whole scene where they're standing in their new apartment, they say "hey, when are you moving in?" "Tomorrow." "Oh what time..." That goes on for 2 minutes. They wrote that useless scene, then filmed it, then edited it into the film, then kept it after viewing it. All so we know Thora is supposed to show up at 12?
Before you think I'm being unreasonable, know this, I know how indie comics work. I've read tons of them, I've been to comic shows, trying to sell my own indie book (which was about a medieval warrior and his fairy sidekick in case you're wondering), and read plenty of indie books that have just normal people talking about their lives, or why they hate things, or them making fun of customers. It works in the indie comic world. The dialogue is specific to that medium because comic books don't have a lot of space and sometimes you write things that are funny to that world, but....it doesn't always work in film. If the characters are talking about nothing, they have to actually be doing something or be people who wouldn't normally say it in order to be funny. Pulp Fiction: it's interesting because they're hitmen talking about nothing, it's interesting because one guy has a gun pointed at another guy while talking about nothing. The "this is how my life is" type of comic just barely works, and is only interesting when the author has an interesting take on an everyday event or subject. But just like everyday life, it doesn't always translate to the screen. Like Hitchcock said, film is life with the boring parts cut out. Which is why this film needed a screenwriter to write it. There was way too much "I hate this" or "Screw you" dialogue for it's own good. Even though it was easy to relate to the characters, it was also easy to feel a disconnect from them, especially Thora Birch.
I really don't know how faithful to the comic the movie was, but since it's the same author, I'd imagine that even if it wasn't it's still what the author wanted to see on screen. But it doesn't matter if it's faithful or not, the movie should stand alone. I think it could have. I thought the relationship between Thora and Buschemi was interesting, but it could have been better. This film barely scratched the surface of "dark." From what people had said, I thought they were really going to hurt Buschemi bad. They only proceeded to mildly prank him. If this film was actually produced well, I could talk about the themes and depth, but I make it a rule never to talk about poorly executed themes.
I'm sorry, Betsy, I know you love this film. And sorry to the indie sheep who came calling to the bell of an indie film and decided not to notice the painful mistakes. High on my list is a movie called Election. (Which coincidentally Thora Birch was fired from.) I'm sure it's on some of the same lists of people who loved Ghost World, but I need to mention it. Election is funnier, darker, smarter and totally awesome in comparison to Ghost World.