Great movies about life as a teenager are hard to come by. Sure, there are notables. Movies like Rebel Without a Cause and Breakfast Club seem to appeal to their respective generations. I'm also a big fan of Pump up the Volume and Election. Now, I'd like to add Ghost World to that list.

Based on the comic by Daniel Clowes, Ghost World is anything but a conventional take on young adulthood. This movie is both eccentric and funny as it looks at the lives of best friends Enid (Thora Birch) and Becky (Scarlett Johansson) as they graduate high school and plan their futures. Both have an extremely cynical look at life, but they get a reality check as their once strong friendship seems to drift apart.

This is only scratching the surface, for there is a lot going on in Ghost World. Holding it all together is a phenomenal, multi layered performance by Birch. Often in movies, we'll here someone say a particular film has an actor that was born to play a part in that picture. Well, Thora Birch was born to play Enid. In fact this performance rings a little too true. I've had friends in my life that were just like her. On the outside, she's a royal smart ass. And while Enid is extremely intelligent, she uses her cynicism as a front. Deep down, she's lonely and afraid. Birch perfectly captures the spirit of Enid.

This is one of the strongest performances of the year and easily one of the most interesting of recent screen characters. I also enjoyed the dependable Steve Buscemi as Seymour, a sort of shy nerd who finds an unlikely friend in Enid. Rounding out the terrific ensemble is Bob Balaban as Enid's father, Brad Renfro as Enid and Becky's slave buddy, and an aging but humorous Teri Garr as Balaban's girlfriend.

This is the feature directing debut of documentary film maker Terry Zwigoff who made the stunning Crumb a few years back. And while his directing style isn't perfect, he is great with actors and has absolute trust and faith in them. Zwigoff and Clowes actually collaborated on the screenplay and while I've never read the comic, this movie makes me want to run out and buy it.

I've never seen anything quite like Ghost World. It's mean spirited, cynical, funny, touching, romantic, charming and dramatic all at the same time. In short, Ghost World is a lot like life.