Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
The Art of Getting By is a formulaic coming-of-age romance that treads well-worn indie teen movie territory. The plot follows predictable beats—misfit boy meets complicated girl, existential angst, romantic complications—without adding much new to the genre. Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts deliver competent performances that elevate the thin material somewhat, but the supporting cast is underused. The New York City setting is captured pleasantly but without any distinctive visual flair. The film's philosophical pretensions around fatalism and art feel surface-level rather than genuinely explored, and the ending resolves things in a rather conventional and unsatisfying way. Its novelty is low as it closely mirrors the quirky-indie-teen aesthetic popularized by films like (500) Days of Summer without bringing a distinctive voice of its own.