Review: The Art of Getting By

Freddie Highmore plays the acutely self-conscious Manhattan prep schooler whose pivotal senior year is recounted in director-writer Gavin Wiesen's earnest, but weak, debut. George — a talented artist but a slacker — claims he's too paralyzed by the thought of his mortality to do homework. His teachers are no longer amused. He's doodling his way towards expulsion when pretty classmate Sally (Emma Roberts) starts paying attention to him. This boosts his confidence, but does Sally see the scrawny loner as a potential boyfriend or as a sort of mascot? Interestingly, we feel the dilemma as much from Sally's point of view as from George's. But despite good performances by the leads (and by Michael Angarano as a young painter), the action proceeds in dutiful lockstep, touching predictable dramatic bases to the accompaniment of predictable pop songs.

84 MINUTES | EMBASSY