In director Terry Zwigoff's follow-up to his highly acclaimed documentary Crumb, Thora Birch shines as Enid, an angst-ridden teen looking for some hidden humanity beneath the surface of a nondescript mall-culture America. What she finds is Seymour (Steve Buscemi), an older, more socially inept misfit, whom she befriends partly out of pity, partly out of fascination. Their odd friendship propels the narrative, creating moments of great humor and wry discomfort. Few movies have expressed the transition from teen to adult with such farcical honesty. An adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name by Daniel Clowes (who co-wrote the film), Ghost World beautifully retains the style and attitude of its comic book forebear.

David Lasky