“I have fears but I thought they were pretty run-of-the-mill: pain, death.”
“Not me, I fear life.
Apologies for not writing this on Monday (Especially to Greg, but I already apologized to you haha), I got side tracked with playing Titanfall 2, that I forgot to write this review (I also thought I may have wrote a couple more reviews and just had them saved up… note to self – do that again).
I honestly think I saw the trailer for this movie in the coming soon section of The Machinist on DVD, I was immediately engulfed with the characters and the story. Looked to me like a good coming of age movie. I left this movie with a fuzzy feeling in my heart and soul. I actually watched this at university one night and immediately watched it again that evening. This was a time where I was struggling really bad in my schooling, I didn’t know if university was right for me, i didn’t feel particularly liked, I just felt lost. But this movie inspired me to continue and gave me the inspiration to pull my socks up and really buckle down to finish university, so I guess I owe a lot to this movie.
The Art Of Getting By is a Romance, Comedy and Drama film. It follows a young high schooler named George, who is lonely and has a very interesting outlook on life. He has made it all the way to his grade 12 year without ever having done work, whether in school or in homework. He befriends a girl named Sally, a popular girl who recognizes George has a kindred spirit.
The Art Of Getting By is directed and written by Gavin Wiesen. This was his first full length feature film. I thought for a first film that it was very well done, you know the story is kind of weird, no one would be able to get through school without doing work. So I think you need to not focus on the extreme detail of the film and just go in expecting a great film. I feel like thats how Wiesen wanted us to see this film, not to focus on this kid whose never done work, but to focus on the story. And my what a great story it is.
The cast of this film I thought had great chemistry. Freddie Highmore plays the role of George. I’ve liked this guys acting over the years, I always am intrigued by the roles he decides to take. They all seem a bit different or a bit “out there” then your typical film. His other roles are Finding Neverland (2004), Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (2005), A Good Year (2006), August Rush (2007) – which ill review at a later date, and Bate’s Motel TV series (2013, where he plays the young Norman Bates). I thought he did a great job in this movie and he was very easy to associate yourself with him and his emotions. There were times where I saw myself in George, and I think it takes a great actor be able to do that. This film introduced me to one of my favourite female actors working today – Emma Roberts who plays Sally in this film. I’ve been always interested to see her films after watching this, that I’ve actually gone out of my way to see something with her in it – Nerve (2016). Her other films consist of Blow (2001), It’s Kind Of A Funny Story (2010), Valentine’s Day (2010), Scream 4 (2011), Celeste & Jesse Forever (2012), Empire State (2013), We’re The Millers (2013), American Horror Story TV Series (2013-2015), Nerve (2016) and Scream Queens TV Series (2015-2016). She’s a great actress, who for me literally came out of nowhere. I see big things for this lady in the future, and I’m very intrigued to see what she does next or where her next project would take her. I thought both Highmore and Roberts had great chemistry together, it was great.
I wanted to focus on the main characters in this movie, without getting bogged down in the supporting characters, not just being lazy and cutting corners.
The soundtrack in this movie I thought was excellent, it goes all over the place in genre. It also introduced me to a band I still really like to listen to called The Boxer Rebellion. The soundtrack I feel is a strong supporting character in this movie, and the movie becomes even better because of how strong the soundtrack is.
This is a movie I’ll watch when I need to be inspired, when I feel alone in the universe and need a pick me up. It also helps that its really well made and the acting is superb. This movie empowers me that I can do anything, and that if I really try, I can accomplish even the hardest tasks.
I’m super glad I decided to watch this movie, and I’m glad I own the movie on Blu Ray, its been a go to movie for me for a couple years. I also feel like not a lot of people know about this movie, and it deserves a lot more credit than it has. Its a wonderful film.
I give The Art Of Getting By – 4/5
Until Next Time, Stay Inspired!
-Andrew