Watch The Art of Getting By For Free

Please don't spend money on this.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The Art of Getting By follows a lonely, slightly depressed teenage boy in his senior year of high school when he meets a more normal teenage girl and they become friends. The soundtrack was pretty good. But it seemed like it was just using lot's of indie songs without really caring about them. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it, but with a lot of soundtracks like this the music generally tends to have some significance to the movie, whether that be the tone of the movie or something else. The soundtrack didn't suit the tone of this movie at all. All the songs were there because the director (or whoever was in charge) knew that teenagers and all the pretentious hipsters who watch this movie would like it. And yes, I'm one of those pretentious hipsters, which is why I liked it. But regardless, there's a difference between having a good soundtrack and a good soundtrack that suits the movie. I like the title quite a bit. It's catchy, and it has relevance to the movie, specifically the characters. A lot of romantic dramas like this have titles about the events of the movie and not so much about the characters themselves, but the ones about the characters tend to be much better and more meaningful. It's clear that somebody cared about this movie enough to put a level of thought into it. Also, Emma Roberts. I haven't really seen any movies with her in them, but she's a beauty. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing her face throughout this movie, as weird as that may sound. As for her acting talent, well, that could use some serious work. It was hard for me to discern whether the acting was bad or the writing. I figure it's a combination of both. Freddie Highmore is one of the better performances, but again, I can't tell if the writing is bad or if he is. Either way I was disappointed, I like Highmore a lot, specifically in Bates Motel where he plays a character somewhat similar to the one in this movie. Everyone else is just kind of okay, but mostly mediocre. Holy moly, the biggest problem with this movie is the pacing. It's pretty boring, or at least incredibly uninteresting. Not only that, it's extremely rushed. I really liked the first ten minutes, it introduced Emma Roberts' character in a subtle way that I haven't seen before, and I really liked that. But the second she and Highmore officially meet it goes straight down the toilet bowl. Their relationship is incredibly rushed, with them suddenly being best friends within a couple days. I understand that sometimes people just click with each other right off the bat, but even then it takes time to develop a real relationship. This movie doesn't have that. It just jumps right in to it. Maybe if they had better chemistry I'd be more forgiving, but they really don't have much. I think they could work well together in a better movie, but not in this one. There was one part when they first start hanging out when Highmore's characters asks Roberts something right out of the blue. No context, no previous information given to us as the audience to even know that the context of this question was a thing. It made sense when I thought a bit more about it, but still. It was really out of the blue and random. There were a couple side characters that were treated with some level of importance from time to time, like we as an audience were supposed to care. But these characters only showed up when it was convenient for the story, so they were never really developed. And yet here they are, crying away and expecting us to care. It's actually the same case with the main characters. I didn't care about any of them because they were so rushed. Then this conflict pops up at one point towards the end and every character makes this massive assumption about the situation that I never would have, nor do I think anyone else would. And yet that assumption turned out to be correct. Funny thing is, that scene was also super underdeveloped and rushed. What a surprise.Throughout the story Highmore's character acts in ways that I am certain are hinting at his slight depression. I don't really have any knowledge on mental health, but even I could figure this out. Yet the characters in the movie are so incredibly heartless and stupid about it. Highmore has a legitimate reason for something involving his depression and his superiors make fun of him for it (yes, there is a scene where he is referred to as 'pathetic' for being depressed). Seriously? I excused it the first time because I know some people are too stupid even to see something like that, but then it happens again. Normally it doesn't get on my nerves when I dislike a character, but in this case it was just sheer stupidity and lack of understanding of people on the part of the writers. Overall The Art of Getting By is absolute trash. Thankfully it's only about 80 minutes long, but it's a drag to sit through. Every minute painstakingly slides along a lengthy stretch of 30 grit sandpaper with nails and poisonous thorns sprinkled across, whilst indie music plays in the background. In the end I wouldn't recommend this movie.

Well, this is a film that I found very interesting to watch, as well as review.To start off, let's talk about the positive. Emma Roberts, one of my favourite actresses, delivers another stellar performance, combining the beauty, charm & open-minded traits to her character. The music used is very appropriate & emotive, allowing the viewer to relate to each scene.But now, the negatives. The negatives involves the story line sadly, as it left me very emotive & compelled me to write my first review for a long time. First of all, the character of the protagonist is such a self-righteous c**t that he brings pessimism & pain onto others. He causes a confrontation between his stepfather & himself, whilst his mother is too lenient on him, thus meaning he continues into wallow in self-pity until his family's debts causes him to finally get his diploma.The other negative I had with this film, is that Roberts' character is like a Hollywood promotion of cheating. She gets rejected by the protagonist, goes after his painting idol, then decides to cheat on the latter with the former. Eventually she ends up with the protagonist, but the feelings of the painter are never explored once he is left hanging high-and-dry in the airport. Amazingly, the film somehow works itself out in the end. Don't get me wrong, this was actually a really enjoyable film, but the message being sent is that it is OK to be pessimistic & a complete misery to be around, at the same time its OK to cheat on someone because she 'loves' someone else!

The Art of Getting By is great movie,smart and sweet enough to become the favorite film of some adolescent who wrongly believe that they already seen the dark side. There are several lessons to be learned in "The Art of Getting By," though all arrive too late to save this well-meaning but dreadfully executed movie. I wouldn't advise against seeing it, because it showcases Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts (Julia's niece), and they are likely to do greater things, but at the end, I was wondering, what is the point? Nice people lead enviable lives, the hero can solve most of his own problems, and the villain is a sweetheart. It's custard without the lemon.

...about these characters? Not I, after watching this teen puppy love snoozefest.Spoiled white urban teens with piles of money, natural slender good looks (though the female lead looks about 12 years older than the male, here--fire the makeup person!), plenty of money to buy clothes and cosmetic dentistry, no real talent and no real problems still manage to make whining about how hard life is into full-time occupation. The only enjoyment I had from the movie was imagining alien faeries zapping them away from their cell phones, 2000 square foot New York apartments, private schools, and laptops and into a tin hut in Zimbabwe where they are starving, beaten daily, and dying of a dread disease. Or maybe a giant meteor could have just exploded over the private school depicted and saved the world from all of these types. The lead male character is all angsty about being an artist when he draws crappy stuff like any 12- year-old boy does. I thoroughly hated the lead characters, couldn't have cared less if they slept together in their self-centered ways or not, wondered why the rich private school didn't have a depressive kid in therapy, did not believe for a second that young people this rich and pretty wouldn't have oodles of friends. I assume I'm seeing the filmmaker making a film about his own life, and I don't like him one tiny bit after seeing this. A star above 1 because the mikes seemed to work and most of the scenes were lit, and the music was okay. But ish, these characters!