Adapted from Satrapi's semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis follows young Marji's teenage years and early adulthood as she comes of age. Its use of a post-revolutionary Iran as a chaotic backdrop to illustrate how tumultuous and chaotic the journey into adulthood is for all young women is tremendously inspired, but the execution is horribly lacking. Persepolis spreads itself too thin, unsuccessfully attempting to mix the kind of broad "quirky" comedy that made Juno so annoying with the human drama it handles so well. There's a good movie somewhere, but the shallow grabs for laughs all but bury it, and it's a damn shame, because Persepolis tends to be quite visually stunning.

The stark black and white animation is striking and, while never quite achieving the harshness of Renaissance, it still creates its own ominously expressionistic style that makes the literal and figurative horrors of the film appropriately harrowing. The frequent surrealistic flights of visual fancy, however, do not work as well. While inventive and unique the first few times, they quickly get old. With one of these voyages through Marji's mind every few minutes, you'll quickly become immune to their charm, which is just one of the reasons the film's 95-minute duration seem endless. For such a short movie Persepolis sure does ramble on, and its attempts to cover too much material in too small a runtime reveal a shallow lack of focus that is merely content to name-drop as many issues as possible instead of properly exploring a few. Persepolis may seem like it has something to say, but it'll surely lose you before it finally spits it out.

Oddly enough, Persepolis has some interesting special features. Two behind-the-scenes featurettes and a Cannes panel discussion are much more interesting than what you expect to see on a typical DVD release, while the commentary on select scenes will probably please fans of the movie.

While not without its charms, Persepolis could hardly be considered essential viewing. It ultimately does not have to substance to match its stunning visuals, which makes for a rather unsatisfying viewing experience. Outside of teenage girls (the brainy ones, that is), I can't see many people enjoying Persepolis.