The Art of Getting By

So I had wanted to see this movie for awhile since seeing the trailer awhile back. It just looked like it was going to have that existential indie flare that I've come to love so much. It's a directorial debut from Gavin Wiesen and it has Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Freddie Highmore, Blair Underwood, Rita Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, and this little side character played by the Alicia Silverstone.

At it's core the movie is about two friends who are almost more, Emma Roberts and Freddie Highmore. It's also about Freddie's character and his struggle with his existential apathy which plagues him during his senior year of high school.

I loved the dialogue in the movie as all of the characters, especially Higmore's, was quite witty and self-referential. His existential inner debates with himself are totally relatable in my opinion. The movie plays out centered around the two friends who should be, could be, more which I always enjoy for some reason. All of the other characters in his life are just as complicated and plagued however they show/don't show it in different ways. It was really a very smart plot which I enjoyed greatly.

I'm downloading the soundtrack tonight! It opened with one of my favorite Shins songs directly from my iPod and continued with great tracks in keeping with the melodramatic tone of the Shins. Sountrack aside, the movie was filmed beautifully. Every shot was framed beautifully. I especially loved the shot of the two characters walking in opposite directions in a wide angle down the same street. Just beautiful. The soft focus used on the close ups were also equally as beautiful. Each scene had a different color palette according to the mood and it was just great. Loved it.

Freddie Highmore did a great job with this character, although I couldn't help but see the kid from August Rush up there doing grown up things. I kept thinking he's too young for all of it! Emma Roberts is really picking smart roles lately and I was impressed. Michael Angarano did great, as always, but it's the first time I've also realized that he's not that young anymore either. Perhaps my old age was just creeping up on me in this movie.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film. It's a little dramedy about existentialism and friends who should be more - two things I always enjoy. Not to mention that it was artistically directed. Props to Wiesen for putting the effort into all of the elements of the movie instead of just advancing the plot forward. "In the history of the world, there have been something like 110 billion people born and not a single one of them has made it".