Dir Gavin Wiesen, USA, 2011, 83mins
Cast: Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Sasha Spielberg, Marcus Carl Franklin
Review by Matthew Rodgers
This little indie offering strains at the seams to be as achingly hip as Igby Goes Down or as empathically real as the subtle depiction of relationship woes displayed in the brilliant 500 Days of Summer. But it fails on every level, bar the splendid cast, and becomes nothing more than an Adventureland clone, minus the fun fair.
Freddie Highmore (the uber-sprog from Finding Neverland) is George, a melancholic teenager coming of age. You know the type: the “against the system loner”, who has trouble expressing his inner brilliance? As with a lot of the film, think Good Will Hunting.
Given an ultimatum by his school principal (Blair Underwood) and experiencing strife at home with his well-intentioned but fractured family – his step-father (Sam Robards) hides a secret and his mother (Rita Wilson) cannot understand his maudlin outlook – George finds solace in the shape of Sally (Emma Roberts). Sally is the “popular girl” for whom he covers during a roof-top misdemeanour and they forge a clichéd relationship that results in a – wait for it – airport based “should I stay or should I go” predicament.
It all sounds like the kind of uninspired guff that would make scratching your eyes out a preferable option. It’s more like a soundtrack with a movie wrapped around it and then coated in whimsy than a film itself.
So thank the casting agent for securing such a talented line-up. Emma Roberts was the best thing about the largely forgettable Scream 4. Here she offers an interesting, honest portrait of a strong young woman that never once smacks of the staple “boy meets girl” character until the awfully mawkish ending.
Highmore is on a par with Roberts. He is requisitely unlikeable and something of a little snot during the film’s opening salvo. But he masters the American accent and delivers a turn to suggest that his transition from child star is going to be a doddle, as George becomes the kind of likeable geek that this genre demands.
The Art of Getting By really only succeeds when the two leads are together on screen. The pairing is utterly convincing and totally earned, as opposed to the unrealistic way in which a Judd Apatow geek would get the girl. Here you believe that George and Sally deserve a shot.
Hampered by familiarity, some clunky existentialism, an over earnest script, and the nagging question with regard to its lack of originality – “Why does this even exist?” – The Art of Getting By can be filed alongside Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and any number of other clichéd rom-coms, which are elevated above their station by infectious lead performances.
