Art School Confidentional

    How many of you have ever really known an art school student? As a younger man, I spent some time in Art School: an accredited regionally renowned school of a much higher quality than the Stratford College of "Art School Confidential." Better facilities, much better budding young artists, but the point is, there were some distinct similarities between the art students from the University of my Youth, and dear old Stratford; most of the students were full of themselves, and the students with the least amount of talent suffered from the most hubris.

    This excessive hubris is at the crux of this farce, that stars the multitalented John Malkovich as Professor Sandiford, who has more than his share of this bane to make up for his obvious lack of talent. When Jerome, portrayed by Max Minghella, visits the Professor at his home and notices his artwork, he asks him about the work (which are framed pictures of various triangles), to which the Professor explains, "Do you know how long it took me to get to this level of artistry? 25 years."

    Sure, it's a farce, but if you find the self-important, self-impressed as funny as I do, you'll like this movie. If you find the "artsy fartsy" a hilarious concoction of contradiction, see this film.

    Rated R at 102 minutes of runtime. Released on DVD October 10, 2006.