El Arte de Vivir

this movie has gotten a pretty bad rap, it supposedly got terrible reviews from critics when it was first released and it didn't perform well at the box office but i don't see what is so horrible about it, i thought it was a nice, easily watchable film that didn't follow the usual cliché storyline that most teen romance films follow.

Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts are rather sweet together, although i have to say the Emma Roberts character is slightly annoying and a bit of a hussy, obviously she's picked this up from her mother but besides that the two leads are great together and have a genuine awkwardness between them that is really funny and nice to watch.

The only time that i thought the movie faltered was when it started to deal with the family side of the story, i didn't find it very interesting and it seemed like a kinda boring subplot. I would have liked to see more scenes with Alicia Silverstone because she is great and it was cool to see her in a very different role like this. Also the lack of soundtrack lets this film down slightly but this is an independent film so i guess you have to make allowances for that.

So if you're looking for a teen film that is a tad left of field, check this out.

"We all die alone, so why am I supposed to spend my life working, sweating, struggling...I have better things to do with my time." George (Highmore) is a high schooler who has pretty much given up. Bitter with the world and his mother he refuses to do anything and hasn't done a real day's work in his entire senior year. He meets Sally (Roberts) who sees the same thing in herself. This is a very good movie made better by the acting. Highmore, in a departure from his usual disgustingly good boy roles is excellent in this. Roberts, who is fast becoming a better actress then her aunt is, is also fantastic in this movie. The role of George is written to be a total jerk to most people he meets, but Highmore has enough "baggage" with him that even though he is not nice to almost everyone in the movie you still wind up rooting for him and wanting him to succeed by the end. That is a rare thing for an actor that young. While this is a very good movie that forces you to keep watching it does tend to drag in a few places, but not enough to be boring. If that makes sense. Overall, a very good movie with great acting that is a definite watch. The type of movie that all high schoolers should watch. I give it a B+.

*Also try - Happythankyoumoreplease & It's Kind Of A Funny Story

This independent picture first titled "Homework" then changed to "The Art of Getting By" wasn't nothing great, yet it's story brings back memories of the times when most remember that being their high school days. When we struggled for social acceptance, worried about making good grades and getting into college. And most of all finding the right first love that you were mad about! And this film covers all of those themes.

Set in New York City at a prep high school you have an odd and lonely out of place boy George(Freddie Highmore) who's searching for social acceptance while he slacks and struggles with his grades. Also his mother Vivian(Rita Wilson) is having problems of her own with George's stepfather and money woes are painful. It's upon meeting a girl that George has loved from a distance that gives him hope. Enter Sally(good performance from Emma Roberts)a southern girl who's moved north with her sexy and extroverted mother Charlotte(Elizabeth Reaser). And as typical the ups and downs of meeting, partying, and hanging out come and go and the typical hormones rage also. In the end George learns both a discovery of art and love. Overall nothing great it's somewhat predictable still it's theme and message is memorable and true this film is an all right watch.

This is one of those movies that starts out well but seems to disappoint in the end.

It's beautifully shot and edited, and we see many fine performances. I found Emma Roberts particularly appealing, as she has a dour, come-hither look in her dark eyes about 95% of the time. What Ingrid Bergman could achieve by looking down, Roberts does by looking almost right at us.

Freddie Highmore looks and feels authentic. His character has a lot of choices to make, many of which go against all common sense. But although he drives us crazy, he's intriguing and we want to know what's to happen to him.

Mid-movie, the characters are hit with several crises, and it gets interesting as we wonder how they'll resolve them. When resolution strikes, though, it's so conventional that it's disappointing. The expected is unexpected.

Yup, it has indie-feel and Sundance all over it. But I was hoping for a big surprise at the end from these flawed but good people; instead, they seemed to abandon what they had stood for. And what may have qualified as a surprise involving Roberts was simply unbelievable and too convenient to accept. Though I was happy for them, a simple, happy ending didn't feel right with these non-simple characters.

But then, maybe, that was the point.

This was one of those understated-on-purpose films which I normally adore: except I didn't. There has to be some type of excellence in these little indies which invite a second look -- great acting, original concepts, exceptional dialog, beautiful art direction, etc. -- but in this case, none of the above applies. The Art of Getting By lives up to its name by just scraping by on its formulaic mediocrity in every category.

Freddy Highmore and Emma Roberts play high school students in the city, from different from different social classes even though they both go to an expensive private school. George (Highmore) also happens to be a loner/misfit who has a bad case of that teen angst we all can recognize: everything's pointless, why bother doing homework, we're all going to die anyway, yadda yadda. He's got all his justifications figured out, and then one day he develops a hard crush on Sally (Roberts), and suddenly sees that there may be a point to things after all. But of course there are personal problems and home life to drive a wedge between their budding maybe/sorta romance, including George's inability to express his feelings in any way except through his art. So the stereotype of the misunderstood loner/misfit is carried through quite predictably, exactly as we have all seen it in two dozen other films about teenagers.

Highmore and Roberts are good-looking and competent actors, judging by what I've seen of their work elsewhere. Here, however, they fizzle. There is simply no chemistry between their characters. Roberts may be able to get by on her stunning good looks, but lip-twisting and -twitching do not a convincing actress make; she merely sleepwalks through her lines. We the audience are never shown what it is about her (other than striking eyes) which attracts George. George does have a few moments of good dialog which could have been gold in the hands of a motivated actor, but the constant wooden expressions on his face undermine them; he is blank even when tears are running down his cheeks. How the heck are we supposed to care about his personal crisis? I will say in its favor that TAOGB does have some standout minor characters; the adults in George's life which, for the most part, are well-acted. I especially liked his art teacher's over-the-top intensity. George's mom is also wonderfully cast for the role of a tired woman just trying to hold her family together. And what's up with Alicia Silverstone as a frumpy schoolmarm?!?..but it works, oddly enough.

So in short, TAOGB wasn't a disaster, but I just can't see anybody citing it for outstanding, well, *anything* in the years to come.