Catwoman, the early years.

Ghost World is the wildest, funniest teen romp since American Pie!

Okay, not really.

It is funny, very funny. But the similarities end there. Instead of a group of teen movie stereotypes facing one contrived situation after another, we get a couple of unique, realistically written girls in a world that feels remarkably life-like. (And don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first American Pie, but this is different, and much better.)

Go to the movie to meet Enid, played brilliantly by Thora Birch. You will first see her dancing along with a video of a 1960's Indian rock and roll musical. It's one of the few times in the movie you'll see her actually doing anything. Mostly, Enid is an observer, all about ironic detachment and wry commentary. She takes great pleasure in existing outside the mainstream, making fun of the mindless conformists she sees around her.

I just have to point out that, in addition to a fistful of beef jerky, this guy has a partially completed hangman game on his arm.

The movie takes place during the summer after she and her friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) graduate from high school. At the graduation ceremony and dance afterwards, we see Enid and Rebecca interact with each other and their peers. What becomes clear is that they've been best friends for a long time, but that they're starting to grow in different directions, though neither one is ready to admit it. Enid doesn't want to go to college. She doesn't want to get a job, though she makes token attempts. She's supposed to move in with Rebecca, but, well, there are always reasons why she can't go apartment hunting. She's in limbo, stuck between a world she disliked but knew and one that she dislikes and doesn't know. Rebecca, on the other hand, is ready for a change and frustrated by Enid's foot-dragging.

Eventually, Enid hooks up with Seymour, (Steve Buscemi) a lonely, middle-aged record collector. At first it's part of a cruel joke, but soon Enid surprises herself by actually starting to like the guy. And why not? They're both stubborn individualists, refusing to give in to the mind-numbing sameness of mass culture, even though the result of their individualism is loneliness.

"I don't know, Enid, the future doesn't look that bad."

Enid is one of the most interesting characters to hit movie screens in a while. Birch, looking like a cross between Christina Ricci and Christina Ricci in The Addams Family, gives her the right note of adolescent arrogance tinged with a hint of equally adolescent insecurity. A part of her life has ended. A part that she wasn't particularly fond of, granted, but she knew it, she knew how it worked and where she fit in. Something has to come next, but she doesn't know what, and nothing that's on offer seems to appeal to her. She needs something in her life — love, acceptance, a direction — but doesn't know how to get it and is too proud to ask. She can be tough to like, but you like her anyway. Plus, she's just fun to look at. Enid has a distinctive and often changing personal style. I loved watching her with her glasses. Halfway through a scene, she would dig into her purse and pull out a new pair of glasses to go with a subtle shift in mood.

One of the most satisfying things about this movie is the way it lets its characters have complex, messy relationships. Enid and Rebecca, Enid and her father, Enid and Seymour. Nothing's ever cut and dried between them, feelings are mixed, things are left unsaid. When eventually some kind of closure is achieved, it's not in service of a happy ending, but one that feels right for the characters: cautiously hopeful but a little sad, too.

So, do you like movies about offbeat teenagers? Check out my list of five more.

Gorilla Pants rating: 3.5 out of 4 bananas