The Art of Getting By

Cecil says: The best thing about this film was actually the venue: Rochester's Cinema Theater (yes, it reminds me of getting Gateau Cake in my home town of Hull as a kid; and in many ways Rochester is rather like Hull, funnily enough). The Cinema dates back to 1914, and claims to be one of America's oldest continuously running theaters. Hats off to the local community that restored the place in the 80s and kept it running today. And, only $5 each for a double bill (we didn't bother staying for the X-Men...).

The Art of Getting By has had quite a few bad reviews, but actually I quite enjoyed it.

I think we needed a simple teen love story after the grief and sadness of the last film we saw. And the main character, George, had a certain resonance for me, taking me back to my last years at high school, with his philosophical approach to life and his fumbled attempts at romance.

Of course, not all of us 'got the girl' during our high school years, and I don't want to ruin things for those who haven't seen the film yet, but you kind of know things will all turn out OK for George in the end, just because this is a feel-good movie and it wants to end happily.

So George felt fairly believable, if perhaps a bit of a caricature of the kind of 17 year old some of us would like to have been. We don't really know much about Sally, the target of George's affections and friendship. But maybe that's the reality of teenage romance and friendship: we don't really get inside the head of the people we date and/or fancy, do we? At least, not at that age...

Overall, though, as I say, I actually enjoyed this film. Not really very memorable, but another nice way to spend a cool evening while it's hot outside.

Oh, and get this: Sally is played by Emma Roberts, who is none other than the niece of Julia; she got into film by hanging out on sets when her aunt was performing over the years. Easy for some, huh?

***

Bea says: A nice-looking film, with easy-on-the-eye actors playing all the lead roles, and New York's Upper East Side starring as itself in autumn/winter, all leaves in the park and Christmas lights. In fact I whiled away time through the rather thin plot by just enjoying the visuals.

The story was diverting, if not particularly original - angst-ridden, slightly gawky, and not very good student George gets a shot to hang out with the "A" list popular kids when he becomes "just friends" with Sally. Borrowing rather heavily from 80s classic Less Than Zero, all the teens in the film are privileged, wealthy and not lacking in opportunity, with mostly disinterested parents. The film does focus closely on George and his inner and outer life, so we do get some insights into his relationship with his mother, but other characters, such as Sally's mother, are rather stereotyped. George makes another new friend through the course of the film - an older ex-student of the school, and introduces him to Sally - with predictable results. So far, so like true life.

I might have been happier with this film if it resisted the urge to add on a very unlike real-life sugar coated happy ending.
**