The Art of Getting By

The Art of Getting By

George, the protagonist of “The Art of Getting By,” is a senior in high school who decides to stop doing homework and paying attention to tests. He isn’t tormented, depressed, addicted or anything like that. He’s realized that he’s going to die and what good is homework? This is more profound than my theory, which was that homework would kill me.

Freddie Highmore plays George, who just yesterday was the kid in “August Rush.” He could become a durable leading man because he looks good; and by that I don’t mean handsome; I mean kind and likable. He’s nice even when he tells his parents and teachers he doesn’t see the point of graduating from high school. He’s the spiritual kin of Melville’s Bartleby the scrivener, who politely told people: “I would prefer not to.”

By not giving George a fixable reason for his behavior, the movie sidesteps some cliches of the teen problem picture. Not all of them. There is always romance. For example, George likes Sally (Emma Roberts), a classmate who he assumes somehow is beyond him. In this he isn’t being defeatist but, he thinks, realistic. If he were a little more perceptive, he’d know Sally likes him a whole lot.

His life seems stuck on pause.

His passivity is both interesting and frustrating because George holds all the answers to his problems and freely chooses unhappiness instead. As a result most of the movie’s tension comes from us rather than from its plot. We want George to succeed; we want him together with Sally; we even like Dustin (Michael Angarano), an older artist who likes Sally and also likes George. Dustin is so nice he would step aside from Sally if he thought George was ever going to make a move. Not likely in romance but there you have it.

George’s mother (Rita Wilson) and stepfather (Sam Robards) are concerned but curiously distant. The family is obviously affluent but isn’t obsessed with George graduating or getting into a good school. He’s spared counseling or diagnosis, and we learn about their distractions later. But his school is highly engaged, especially his principal (Blair Underwood), his English teacher (Alicia Silverstone) and his bearded and irascible art teacher (Jarlath Conroy). They come up with a deadline that would provide more tension if it were not so clear that a film like this requires George to meet it.

That leads to a rather sadistic scene in which George must actually attend his school graduation ceremony to find out if he’s graduating. This last-instant judgment has been brought about by the principal, who until this point in the film has been unfailingly kind and understanding. I fear the scene exists for no other purpose than to arrive at an ending for the screenplay. It shouldn’t be that obvious.

Another problem involves certain details of the relationship between Sally and Dustin I don’t want to spoil for you. Let me use evasive language. With what is implied by her apparent decision, we have to assume emotional decisions on her part that aren’t consistent with her eventual choices. You’ll see.

It is a pleasant, well-acted movie and it won’t bore you. No, I wouldn’t say this isn’t worth seeing because it has Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts (you know her, right? Julia’s niece) in it, who are both likely to go on to do better projects. But by the end I was asking myself: What’s the point? Good people lead charmed lives; the hero can fix most of his problems on his own; and the villain is a nice guy. It’s like eating pudding without the tangy zip of lemon zest.

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