The Art of Getting By – Review

Reviews, Theatrical Reviews

Gavin Wiesen’s attempt at making his own Before Sunrise

There’s only one downside to child actors: they have to grow up. There’s only so long you can last as a child actor before you have to rely on acting chops as an adult that are on a significantly higher level than the standard held to children. Eventually you can’t rely purely on being a cute child; there has to be a “put up or shut up” moment where a child actor can try to become Leonardo DiCaprio or follow the path of drugs and tabloid celebrity that many others fall into.

This is where Freddie Highmore, a SAG nominated child actor for Finding Neverland, finds himself now. Charlie Bucket has grown up and now Highmore is transitioning into adult roles. And while his talent has managed to stay the same, his ability to find himself in good roles is going to be tested. And if The Art of Getting By is any indication, he needs to find better films.

George (Highmore) is a high school slacker who hates doing homework. He’s the kid you label as having “potential” and figure it’ll eventually click; he’s a brilliant artist but he just doesn’t have it all together. Enter Sally (Emma Roberts), the sort of rich popular girl he admires from afar but never speaks to. He’s a bit of a misanthrope but a chance encounter between the two discovers a friendship and perhaps something more. As the school year progresses, the two develop the sort of bond that tests both their limits. But there’s a huge problem in that neither Sally nor George are really character we can like, and that’s a problem when you have a film that relies on that exclusively.

One can see where Gavin Wiesen, who wrote and directed the film, is going with this film. This is his attempt at making a film like Before Sunrise to focus on two leads in a romantic drama without much significant plot developments. The film focuses on the relationship between George and Sally as they figure out their feelings for one another. But the problem is that Highmore and Roberts aren’t given anything really to work with in terms of character.

One of the beauties of a film like Before Sunrise, which is what this film is trying to be, is that it combined once in a lifetime chemistry with great characters. This film takes mediocre characters and similar chemistry and tries to do something similar. Roberts and Highmore are good in their roles but they don’t have the sort of chemistry required for a film with this minimal of a plot.

The Art of Getting By tries to live by chemistry between its leads but dies because of its lack thereof.

Writer / Director: Gavin Wiesen
Notable Cast: Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Alicia Silverstone, Blair Underwood, Rita Wilson, Sam Robards