the end of high school can be a polarizing experience . on the one hand and it the start of a whole new and exciting life . but on the other and it a terrifying prospect . it the first time in a young person life when they can get out into the real world and see what lie in wait for them . either exciting surprise or grave disappointment . ghost world and my choice for best teen film of 2001 and neatly capture the mindset of anguished teenager at this particular crossroad in life . it not always accessible and but in this day and age of cookie cutter teen fodder and that something of a relief . the two teen ghost world chooses to observe be enid and rebecca and both wonderfully play by thora birch and scarlett johansson . the opening scene witness their high school graduation . something enid and rebecca greet with almost casual indifference . their life be undeniably change and they just haven not decided if it for good or bad . ghost world be a film that seem to occupy a bizarre buffer zone between two netherworld . it a skewed vision of suburbia and not unlike something out of a tim burton or a john water film . and director terry zwigoff paint a quite appealing portrait of an oddball utopia slowly be swallow up by progress such a mini mart and consumerism . enid and rebecca be casual observer . anything that fall below their radar and you can bet enid will have some witty rejoinder or dry comment drip in sarcasm on hand and while rebecca stand off to the side mull it over and chip in if and when necessary . the film chart the deterioration of their friendship . although enid be in no hurry to grow up and get on with thing and rebecca sens an inevitability to her life . be a non conformist be one thing and but at some point and we all have to conform to some of life expectation of u . rebecca get a job at starbucks ( or something like it ) and go apartment hunt for herself and enid . thing like these do not interest enid . she trap in a perpetual fantasy . a bubble she believe will remain intact . and when she do try to follow rebecca example and do a regular job and it like watch a dog walk on it hind leg . enid wasn not mean for normal life . she love to stand out from everyone around her . and she have an eclectic wardrobe for each and every ( social ) occasion . rebecca may be an outsider too and but perhaps she recognise it a one of life many phase . so with enid and rebecca grow far and far apart and enid find solace in seymour ( a perfectly cast steve buscemi ) and a record collector unlucky in love . enid play a rather cruel joke on seymour by respond to a personal ad he put in the paper . she stand him up and sort of and by observe him from a distance ( like she do with everything ) and and becomes fascinate by this oddity of a man . she sense a kindred spirit in seymour . someone who doesn not fit in and a social misfit and and inept at life irony . but when she actually get seymour a date and he start spending less and less time with enid . and a enid perfectly perceptive world fall apart and she spiral into depression and despair . ghost world be the type of teen film you pray for and and when it finally come and you almost feel like slap yourself in astonishment . a teen film that witty and sharp but most of all and perceptive . also one of it nice touch be the fact it star actual teenager for a change and not adult ten year old . ghost world come with a positively anti authoritarian stamp on it . i sense terry zwigoff be a bit of a non conformist himself . and he select two superb actress to carry the film off with aplomb . thora birch be the undisputed star . she so neatly capture enid character you couldn not imagine anyone else in the role . her performance be so wonderful the way it rotate from cynicism and intuition and eventually gut wrench despair . each line of dialogue she deliver to perfection . from capital letter to full stop . and yet despite be attune to the world around her and she be naive in her way . she have the vain belief thing will always stay the same . observe the world at a coldly detached distance . but a the world make her a participant and it something that shatter her world forever . what an impressive and heartbreaking performance from someone so young . ghost world come at a time just before scarlett johansson career take off . and although she doesn not get a much screen time a birch and she equally impressive . she quite modestly allow birch to take the spotlight because she know it enid life story that capture our interest . johansson performance be more subtle than birch and but she be necessary and because she provide an effective counterpoint to enid role without have to do very much at all . which be why scarlett johansson be such a wonderful actress . but she would have to wait for lose in translation to show her true mettle and where she play a character not all that different from rebecca . steve buscemi be in his element a seymour . he the man we hope to never become . buscemi be know for choose quirky and off centre role and seymour be no exception . a man of few joy and even few accomplishment . the crux of ghost world be enid . what she slowly sense be that her defiantly defended role a life abject observer can not go on forever . one day and she will have to grow up . and perhaps she do at the end . the last thing we ever see of her be get on a bus . where she go be a mystery . but at least she get out of town . perhaps progress have finally catch up with enid . cherish ghost world . it the perfect antidote to predictable teen movie and their comfortable clichés .