Ghost World

Well,

I've seen it for the first time now, and I must confess, I found the movie to be intriguing to see the least. Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi absolutely sparkle in their roles, and Scarlett Johannson portrays a very symphatetic character as well.
The really strange (and great) thing IMHO was that there is no 'bad' person anywhere in the movie. Everybody is a bit abnormal, and the main character, Enid, is, especially at the beginning, at times mean. But this meanness stems more from the almost stereotypical disliking of the intelligent teenager of the mindless consumerculture around her, then from an inherent streak of cruel behavior.

Anyways, for those who haven't seen it, here's the storyline.
The movie starts with the two lead characters graduating from hish school. Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) do not want to conform to expectations and plan to move in together in an apartment downtown(As friends.) They don't have well defined plans though. Especially Enid seems unsure about what to do, being gently pressured by her father to attend college, and having to go to Summer School to finish an Art Appreciation class she had failed her senior year. LAter on, this seeming reluctance is perhaps expressed by her constantyly failing to show up at supposed important events in her life.

One day, they browse a paper for stuff to do, and see a contact ad from this man who looks for a person he once saw on an airport. Enid, the leader of the two, decides to call him and invite him to a diner, just to see what kind of person he is.
That's how Seymour(Steve Buscemi) enters the picture. A very symphatetic, rather weak willed, loser. Enid becomes strangely fascinated by the man, and starts to hang out with him. Rebecca slowly fades a bit into the background. She is determined to follow through on the plan to move in together in an apartment, and secures a job for herself in a coffee shop. She exasperates with Enid, who fails to hold a job. Rebecca also has a hard time comprehending why Enid is spending so much time with Seymour.
Meanwhile Enid starts to realize Seymour could be some sort of male mirror image of herself in twenty years or so. She wants to help him get a date, but once he finds a nice woman, she finds her relation with Seymour has moved beyond 'just friends'. She becomes really confused about her feelings toward him. Which in turn starts to confuse Seymour as well, which leads to a climax of sorts.
In art Appreciation, Enid's teacher realizes the girl has real talent. Not only does she try to entice the girl to pursue this venue by showing her how to procure a one year scholarship at a college, she also shows Enid's drawing on an exposition. But this backfires. Apart from this mishap, Enid gets into a serious argument with Rebecca about their plans for moving in, and finds Seymour now has little to no time for her anymore, now that he has a relation.
She nevertheless seeks him out for comfort, and confuses him when she opens up to him. He thinks them over, and then breaks of his own budding relationship, in order to move in with her. But she fails to return his calls, and so he tries to seek her out. One thing leads to another, and finally to a climax of sorts.
The end is quite surprising, and I wont give it away, but I found it both bleak and yet strangely hopeful...

I'd give this movie at least an 8 out of 10, and if you like the genre, it's definetely a movie worth seeing. It's supposed to be a comedy, but then of the very bleak kind. It's not blatant in any way, more sort of a delightful undercurrent.

For those of you who have seen this movie, what do you think is the relevance of that old man Norm, who can be seen entering his bus almost at the end of the movie? Enid has an almost wistful smile on her face when she sees this happening. I have an idea of course, but I would like to hear what you think