The Movie
Funny thing about slackers, they're seldom as charming as they think they are. That's certainly true for George (Freddie Highmore), a high school senior in New York City who tries to joke his way out of his responsibilities, meeting with less and less success these days. He's a budding artist but with nothing to say, on academic probation and facing suspension at his next infraction, and yet he steps up to take the smoking rap for fellow student Sally (Emma Roberts) to keep her out of trouble.
Out of gratitude at first, she befriends the awkward loner, and they embark upon a platonic relationship that soon has confidantes buzzing about the possibility of romance. He dismisses the incessant boyfriend/girlfriend talk because he's too busy... well, he doesn't do much of anything really, until his laziness leads to the threat of missing graduation, forcing him to complete an entire year's worth of work in only three weeks. Good thing he's secretly been a genius all this time, just too cool to show it.
The poorly titled The Art of Getting By might have at its heart one of the most honest portrayals of teen angst ever captured on film, and by that I mean that Highmore's George is unsympathetic and frankly kind of annoying, just like real-life teenagers. He's in a downward spiral, but it's of his own creation so I was actually glad to see him twist in the wind. Yes, he finally grows up, but long before his turning point I noticed that he speaks like a much older screenwriter. And that guy's not as witty as he thinks he is, either.
The Picture
Shot on 35mm, The Art of Getting By displays a tremendous amount of detail across its 2.4:1 frame, from pores to the geometric pattern of clothing and more. Even the backgrounds are clean and relatively sharp, despite a modest reported average video bitrate of 23 megabits per second on this single-layer disc. Grain and noise are minimal, but blacks are flat at best, sometimes downright ugly, as in pretty much any shot of The City at night.
The Sound
That city is a real character here, so I'm glad to hear its myriad sounds spread out across the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundfield, the requisite cars and sirens and such, particularly in the rears. Similarly, restaurant noises are well-rendered with the usual crowd murmur and the clinking of flatware on dishes. Music has an outstanding presence that seems to reflect each environment, whether a song is emanating from a clock radio or a DJ is laying down palpable bass beats in a dance club.
The Extras
Writer/director Gavin Wiesen shares his experiences making this, his feature film debut, on his very own audio commentary. There's also a twelve-and-a-half-minute HBO First Look special as well as a pair of short promo clips that play like themed trailers interspersed with creator interviews, one about young love, the other about the Manhattan setting. All of these are in HD, but the four-minute one-on-one with star Freddie Highmore from Fox Movie Channel is in SD.
Final Thoughts
Aimed perhaps exclusively at high school seniors (and parents be warned that there is a good deal of nonchalant underage drinking depicted), The Art of Getting By lacks any great new universal truth, opting instead for a would-be hipster vibe that doesn't ring true. The disc offers mostly competent technical quality, so at least the A/V crew wasn't slacking.
Product Details
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