The Art of Getting By

At its heart, The Art of Getting By is a coming-of-age tale that looks like dozens of other coming-of-age tales. Grown-up Freddie Highmore (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) plays George Zinavoy, a smart-ass slacker who'd rather bury his head in his doodles than complete simple math problems, which lands him dangerously close to suspension, expulsion, and no diploma. Bumbling along his senior year, he has no friends, a negligent father, an overbearing mother, a pompous stepfather, and a girl (Emma Roberts) who seems to have all the answers to his tortured-artist issues. First-time feature writer and director Gavin Wiesin does a capable job of stretching out the thin material, but for a movie about finding your way in the world, it gets lost in a conventional story.