While I sat in my apartment tonight, watching the Giants try my patience with their one run approach to baseball, I decided rather suddenly to go to a movie. I know it is shocking that a guy who writes a blog about movies goes to see one when he needs to get out of his prison... erm apartment. There were two available movies this weekend. Green Lantern, typical summer blockbuster with heartthrob and Scarlett Johansson’s ex husband Ryan Reynolds. This seems like a movie made for this time of year when nothing is small and explosions are king. The other movie that came out this weekend is The Art of Getting By starring Julia’s better looking niece Emma Roberts and Charlie from that Tim Burton abortion of a remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (any movie that uses one midget and uses CGI to create an army of them is an abortion, little folk need jobs in Hollywood and outside of the Oompa Loompas they aren’t writing very many good roles) Freddie Highmore. Of the two, the latter seemed like my best option.
The story is of George, a teen obsessed with his own inability to care about anything looking at the last year of high school and the pressures of growing up. His family is no help, they just want him to knuckle down and get through it. His teachers don’t bother either and why would they when he has shown them little respect and finds their pestering him over homework annoying. Even in the one subject he should enjoy, art, he is uninspired and instead sketches pictures of his teacher being punched in the mouth. Along comes Emma Roberts as Sally, the girl of George’s dreams. She finds his aloofness charming and they become friends. For George it means not being alone anymore and he falls even deeper in love with her.
Sally is not in love with George though and proceeds to lead the guy on until finally on Valentine’s Day she asks him to have sex with her and then laughs it off because she was kidding. George is understandably upset and cuts off communication leading her into the arms of another man. The movie’s story is not original and they do not break any new ground. The performances in the movie are spectacular. Emma Roberts uses her It’s Kind of a Funny Story character and tweeks it to play the clueless and yet charming love of George’s life, Sally. I’m intrigued to see where she goes next. Between Funny Story, The Art of Getting By and Scream 4, I can see where she is considered an up and coming star. She certainly makes me care about her characters something her Aunt Julia has never done. Freddie Highmore plays the supposedly uncaring and morose George with believability as a kid who claims to not care about the world around him but always seems on the verge of crying.
I can’t say that this movie is a must see of the summer but it is a great movie for people who want to believe in a teen romance. The two actors here affect you and you root for their characters to both fall in love and just survive the chaos their parents and teachers throw around them. My favorite scene comes near the end when George finds the courage to finally tell Sally that he loves her and does not because she doesn’t already know that he does but because he owed it to her to say it and not let it be something unspoken. It takes real courage to do that and in the end, it may not work for you but if you reach for a star, you get burned but sometimes you are able to catch it. For those of us who never try, that is a message worth hearing.
Mr. Unhappy sez: The Art of Getting By is not a new love story but it certainly makes you feel it.
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