THE ART OF GETTING BY (Gavin Wiesen). 84 minutes. Opens Friday (June 17). See listing Rating: N
Writer/director Gavin Wiesen lost me in the first three minutes, when he lifted the entire premise of his movie from a flashback sequence in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. He never got me back.
An utterly fraudulent coming-of-age story, The Art Of Getting By follows George (Freddie Highmore), a Manhattan prep school senior who can’t motivate himself to turn in his assignments because the universe is moving toward entropy and nothing we do truly matters. (Annie Hall. I’m not kidding.)
Further distraction is supplied by Sally (Emma Roberts), a maladjusted classmate who uses George for an ego boost whenever she feels down. And that’s basically it – a series of prefab high school crises. It’s Rushmore without the originality or artistry.
Had Wiesen been genuinely interested in the roots of George’s creative paralysis, The Art Of Getting By might have been something. Highmore’s a strong young actor and capable of depths the movie isn’t inclined to explore. Its idea of crushing depression is a weekend spent listening to Leonard Cohen.
