Weekend - Class Actress

On a lovely day like today, people might come across the internet and find this article. Yes, it's here! A review...

Well I finally wound up and decided I would do a movie review - sorry for the disappointment if anyone was looking to read an album review. Well I first watched the movie The Art Of Getting By (2011) just last night, on the plane to Melbourne. I have been looking forward to watching this movie for a very, very, very long time, and I couldn't seem to find it anywhere! I first downloaded the amazing soundtrack a few months ago and I was hooked. Just yesterday, I was about to risk the well being of my laptop and download the movie file filled with viruses, but I stopped myself in time. I cried of happiness as I scrolled down the pages of films on the tiny screen on the plane and found the movie I have been looking for five months.

Storyline (Copied from the IMDB page)

Believing the quote that you are born alone, die alone and everything else is an illusion, George doesn't see the point of life, school, or homework. Then he meets Sally and he now has a reason to go to school and make friends, even if he's not ready to admit to himself or to her that he likes her. The school's principal and art teacher introduce him to an alumni, and successful artist, Dustin, who can help guide George along life's path, but other distractions start surfacing, and George might not even be able to graduate from high school.

Review

The movie is a bit of a cliche, and is extremely predictable. It's one of those rom-coms that you could just say "Yes, they're soo going to end up together, she's going to leave her totally hot boyf and he's going to realize he loves her...", something like that. But still, there were amazing elements to the film that got rid of all the cliche-ness and the corniness. Like the fact that the main character, George (Freddie Highmore) had this shitload of homework to finish because of his believes in life. I think that the main character just has this honesty that is just so sad and lonely. He's extremely deep and wears a trenchcoat around the city.

As of the lead female, Sally (Emma Roberts), I was a bit hesitant to think that she had actually nailed the role. She was a bit shaky, and the chemistry was really just alright. I didn't really understand what kind of person she was, and she didn't send a clear message throughout the film.

Another stand out point is the art teacher (I don't remember what his name was). To make up for all the assignments he had missed for the whole year, he assigned George a painting. He said it could be of anything, anyone, anywhere, big or small, absolutely anything. The only condition was that it had to come straight from his heart, not something he just did because he had to do it. Whatever he had to say that he hadn't said before, he should express it into the painting. It had to be personal and real. Well obviously George painted Sally (I saw it coming). And also, in the class in the beginning of the film he told George to paint.

George: I have nothing to say.

Art Teacher: Then find something to say!!

I knew before that the film was going to be called "Homework", but was later changed to "The Art Of Getting By" for some sad reason. I honestly thing "Homework" is a much more appropriate title than "The Art Of Getting By", just because the whole story is mainly evolved around homework. The only reason he met Sally was because of his issues with teachers and work being done. But I can't do anything about the title anyways..

For those of you who have seen the film, I have have some questionable thoughts from some of the scenes in the movie. First of all, why was Sally laughing when they woke up at her house the night after the club? And did George's mother know that her husband didn't have a job?

So anyways, the film didn't turn out as quirky and lively as I expected it to be. Instead, it was kind of dark and mysterious with George's obsession with death and life. I liked it, and I highly recommend it to people who like watching teenagers obsess with weird things (I do). I enjoyed it a lot, and yeah, that's pretty much it.

Ciao