Enid and Rebecca are two cynical teenagers who live in a world in which everything seems phony and contrived. Everyone belongs to a clique or a group, and all these groups are seen to be hollow and devoid of any worthwhile substance.<br /><br />The film is broken down into three acts. The first act consists of Enid and Rebecca observing and critiquing the world around them. The world is devoid of value and people lack sophistication, filling their times with banal activities and pointless gestures. Time and again, characters are shown to lack depth. They have no appreciation of quality or craftsmanship and simply have no desire to learn or understand.<br /><br />Enid and Rebecca, of course, are not like this. They're two artists, constantly observing and chartering what goes on around them. This acute perception makes them sick. They can't relate to 99 percent of the people around them. If life is so sick and everyone so annoying, how can these girls properly function in the world? If ignorance is bliss, how can these two enlightened teens exist in a world so unenlightened and stupid? <br /><br />Plato called art and philosophy the highest occupations precisely because they are profoundly useless. In understanding and observing his world, man is able to transcend the basic routines of his animal life. The downside is, the more you understand things, the less you identify with the herd. The less you identify with others, the more horrible you feel (see Antonioni).<br /><br />After college, Enid and Rebecca are thus faced with an important question. What next? How do I function and where do I go? Rebecca's answer is to throw away her artistic sensibilities and adopt a more practical view of life. She decides to get a practical job, buy a little apartment and become just another faceless peon to society. She just wants to be normal. This is paradoxically seen as both a step forward into adulthood and a regressive step back into childishness. Yes Rebecca steps forward and assumes adult responsibilities, but her responsibilities are based on a child's view of what an adult should be. In one great shot, Rebecca stands before an ironing board, her transformation into womanhood complete. She's so wrapped up in actually getting on with life, that she hasn't the time or inclination to stop and ponder the banal monster she's become.<br /><br />Enid, in contrast, can't accept this blissful ignorance. She needs to find substance. Somewhere. Anywhere. The answer, of course, seems to be in enrolling in an art college. Isn't this where all observational, overly sensitive outcasts go? But no, even this art class seems pretentious and hypocritical. Everything is a stupid facade. Where can she just be herself? <br /><br />The second act of the film deals with Enid falling in love with Seymore, brilliantly played by Steve Buscemi. He's a middle aged man who lives in the past, collecting old records and antiques. "You think this is healthy," he says, "I can't connect with people so I fill my life with this stuff." The irony is that everyone collects and does routine stuff. Seymore and Enid just have an awareness of why it's done. They're outside the box, looking inwards.<br /><br />Like "Fight Club" the film is completely angry at pop culture. The radio annoys Seymore, with it's constant advertising and pompous DJs. "I feel like I'm being jabbed in the face," he says. Earlier in the film, a customer moans at a video store clerk for not stocking Fellini's 8 ½ (yet the store has the Kim Basinger sex film 9 ½ weeks). Abstract this further and you have the angry assault of "Clockwork Orange's" post modern furniture, music and art.<br /><br />There's some subtle symbolism in the film. Enid constantly tries to latch on to past fashion trends and musical genres as she tries to create an identity for herself. An outdated pair of Levis always seems to be strewn on the sidewalk. There are two garage sales, but the same record is sold in each case. It's also interesting that Enid and Rebecca are only sexually attracted to specific types of boys. At the start of the film, Enid sympathises with a guy called Dennis and both girls are attracted to another kid called Josh. Why? Because both these guys have that genuine rarity of being exactly what they appear to be. No pretence. No attempts to be cool. Even though Dennis is a dweeb, he isn't trying to be anything else. And Josh, basically a dishevelled kid, seems open and honest. The girls feel a connection because these kids represent some form of truth.<br /><br />The last act of the film deals with Enid trying to set Seymore up on a date. Symbolically, she understands that if she can get an outcast like Seymore to function in society, then maybe there is hope for her too. Unfortunately, Seymore's relationship with his date falls apart. Enid, feeling hopeless, thus hops on board a bus. She hopes to leave town. She hopes to travel the world and maybe find herself. Find something she can latch on to. One can view this ending with optimism, but it's also naive to assume that Enid's internal "problem" can be solved by changing her external surroundings. <br /><br />The film thus ends on very much the same note as George Lucas' "American Graffeti", with the artist flying away, a sense of sad possibility lingering in the air. <br /><br />8.5/10- Terry Zwigoff has made 3 pretty great films. "Bad Santa", "Ghost World" and "Crumb". This film makes a nice companion piece to "400 Blows", "American Graffiti", "Ratatouille", "Harold and Maude" and "Fight Club". I guess you can also equate it with Antonioni's work, though his films deal less with the artist, and more with the disillusionment that comes with perception. It's interesting that aside from Pixar's and Hal Ashby's film, all films that deal with artists in this way end on a depressing note.