Review of The Art of Getting By (2011) by Enrica C — 08 Jan 2012

If you've been a teenager you might easily see yourself in the role of George, or at least I did see a part of me in him. "The Art of Getting" by is a sweet little movie that had lots of potential, but never got anywhere with that: I find it a realistic portrait of some nowadays teenagers, but on the other side I don't think that such wasted people are so common out there, thankfully. This movies outlines and sends out all the wrong messages, all those things that teens should not do: see Sally's mother who's ok with a boy sleeping in her 16 years old daughter's room, or being ok with her daughter drinking and smoking. That's really cool in a movie, but the message is SO wrong...

So basically you might want to watch this movie if you want to see a teenage who doesn't do his homeworks even if he has potential. It's like talking with a person who keeps on answering 'Why should I do that?' or having a dialogue with a kid who suffers from depression. You'll never be able to get him doing anything, because nothing is worth nothing... On the other side, it's true that teens aren't happy about home assignments, have other things in their heads, think about girls/boys all the time, etc etc. But come on, these characters were not really beliavable, they were a messed up mix of teens and adults.

But I did enjoy it. And it would have made sense if only the ending was different. Acting was good, dialogues spontaneous -- the plot was more than ok with me for most of the movie. I found "The Art of Getting" a little self-distructing and dumb. But a part from that I would recommend it.