The Go-Getter (2007)

Director:

Martin Hynes

Writer (WGA):

Martin Hynes (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Life doesn't come with a roadmap.

Plot:

When his mother dies, a teenager takes a road-trip in a stolen car to find his long-lost brother. Along the way he discovers a profound connection with the car-owner and with himself as well. |

Plot Keywords:

Road Movie | Teenage Girl | Runaway | Dancing | Loss Of Mother

Cast

Lou Taylor Pucci	...	Mercer
Zooey Deschanel	...	Kate
Jena Malone	...	Joely
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giuseppe Andrews	...	Stock Boy
Kathleen M. Darcy	...	J's Mom
John Anthony Delgado	...	Helpful Guy
Bill Duke	...	Liquor Supply
Colin Fickes	...	Cousin Buddy
Allison Flashman	...	Stand-in
Jsu Garcia	...	Arlen
Judy Greer	...	Better Than Toast
Saul Huezo	...	Valet
Marissa Ingrasci	...	Laurel
Julio Oscar Mechoso	...	Sergio Leone
Vivianne Nacif	...	Voices (voice)
Nick Offerman	...	Nick the Potter
Paul Palo	...	Old Man
Michael Patterson-Crohn	...	Supporting
William Lee Scott	...	Rid
Eliska Sursova	...	Candy Striper
Maura Tierney	...	Hal's Pets
M. Ward	...	J
Sita Young	...	Colder

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexual content and drug use.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Et Cetera Films

Trivia:

Lou Taylor Pucci, Zooey Deschanel and Jena Malone all dance the "Madison" as an homage to Jean-Luc Godard's Bande à part (1964) where Anna Karina, Sami Frey and Claude Brasseur dance it in a café.

Movie Connections:

References Bande à part (1964)

Mercer steals a car to track down his loser half-brother only to forge a bond with the car's owner.

Mercer steals a car to track down his loser half-brother only to forge an unrealistic "bond" with the car's owner. Along the way he finds his way through a number of "quirky" encounters that help him appreciate his life and grow.

There are some very neat camera tricks and shots, especially how they "show" the phone conversations between Mercer and the woman from whose car is now in his possession. However, much of the film is shot using a poor hand held technique that can dizzy up the audience, something fierce. I too saw this at AFF and walked out due to motion sickness and a general lack of caring about the characters and story.

I found this movie to be awfully trite and derivative of other indie dramedies. The script is dreadful as characters react to in random and pointless ways. It read more like a parody of "quirky indie dramadies" than it actually is one. People do not act and talk the way the characters do in this film, the script limps along from improbable scenario to another, helped by weak performances and characters who are never fully realized. Zooey Deschanel comes across as creepy in her initial conversations with Mercer.

If this is what makes an indie hit, the movement is clearly losing steam.