The Art of Getting By

The Art of Getting By is a 2011 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Elizabeth Reaser, Sam Robards, Rita Wilson and Blair Underwood. It is the first feature by writer-director Gavin Wiesen. The film premiered under the title Homework at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Plot
George is a loner high school student with a penchant for drawing and skipping class. He has a nihilistic view of the world which is why he never does homework and skips school frequently. His academic delinquency puts him on academic probation.

One day while on the school roof George encounters classmate Sally, smoking. When a teacher appears, he pulls out a cigarette and takes the fall for her. They become friends.

On career day, George meets young artist Dustin, who he finds inspiring. He brings Sally with him to visit him at his studio in Brooklyn and it becomes apparent that Dustin finds her attractive. She invites George to a New Year's Eve party where she dances with an ex-boyfriend and George gets drunk, goes outside, throws up, and falls asleep in an alley. Finding him there, she takes him to her place, putting him to bed on a pull-out next to her bed. They grow close and George gets more involved in school.

On Valentine's Day, they go out to dinner and Sally starts asking questions about what George thinks of her. He is evasive, and she asks him if he'll have sex with her. When George freezes, Sally backtracks and claims she was kidding. He remains withdrawn and leaves early.

George refuses to take Sally's calls and avoids her. One day Sally runs into Dustin in the street and after a while they start a relationship. George, troubled by this, stops doing homework and is again sent to the principal's office.

George is given two choices: be expelled, or make up all of the work he hasn't done all year. Confronted by his mother and stepfather at home, he responds by telling his mother that his stepfather has been lying about working. The stepfather attacks him and George knocks him down before taking off. He goes to Sally's and, in the hallway, kisses her. Sally kisses back but breaks away as Dustin is in her apartment. Upset, George leaves.

The next morning, George finds his mother in the park and she tells him she's divorcing his stepfather. Consoling her, he begins to rethink his life. He decides to make the effort to do his assignments. His art teacher tells him he wants only one project, but that it must be honest and real. George works on his backwork and takes his final exams. Meanwhile, Sally continues seeing Dustin.

One day George gets a message from Sally. They meet and she tells him she's going backpacking with Dustin through Europe and skipping graduation. He tells her he's in love with her and they go back to her apartment, where they kiss.

Sally tells him she loves him too and promises they'll be together one day. George turns in all his assignments and the principal tells him he'll know he's passed if his name is called at graduation. George's art teacher applauds him on his project.

At graduation, George is with Sally's friends with his mother in the audience. Sally is at the airport with Dustin. George's name is called and his mother applauds.

Afterwards George is in the art classroom looking at his art project, the portrait of Sally. She walks in, joining him looking at the painting as the film closes.

Production
The film's story is inspired by Gavin Wiesen's childhood growing up in New York and spending summers in East Hampton. Wiesen finished writing the script in 2006 and secured a producer in 2008, with financing for the film taking another year to come together.

The film was shot in New York City in the spring of 2010, wrapping up that April.

Soundtrack
The music from the film was released by Rhino Records on June 14 as a CD soundtrack with 12 tracks.
 * Track Listing
 * 1) "We Will Become Silhouettes" - The Shins
 * 2) "We Drink on the Job" - Earlimart
 * 3) "Sally's Theme" - Alec Puro
 * 4) "Sleep The Clock Around" - Mates of State
 * 5) "This Momentary" - Delphic
 * 6) "Christmas Break" - Alec Puro
 * 7) "Winter Lady" - Leonard Cohen
 * 8) "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
 * 9) "Sally's Bedroom" - Alec Puro
 * 10) "Spitting Fire" - The Boxer Rebellion
 * 11) "Here" - Pavement
 * 12) "The Trial of the Century" - French Kicks

Release
The film had its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2011. It received a limited release in American theaters on June 17, 2011. The movie was released on Blu-ray on November 29, 2011.

Box office
The Art of Getting By grossed $1.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $0.6 million in other territories, for a total of $2 million, against a production budget of $4 million.

Critical response
, the film holds approval rating on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on  reviews with an average rating of. The site's consensus states: "A sitcom-level twee mess that bakes in the typical manic pixie dream girl and boring, withdrawn boy hero." At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received a score of 36% based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally unfavorable reviews". The film was criticized as being "a typical coming of age drama." Criticism also centered on the writing, though actor Freddie Highmore and his co-star Emma Roberts were both praised for their performances. Edward Douglas of ComingSoon.net noted, "A New York City boy-meets-girl story may be something we've seen many times before... but Wiesen brings something unique to the mix."