How to Be (2008)

Director:

Oliver Irving

Release Date:

28 August 2009 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Sometimes we all need a little help

Plot:

A young man having an existential crisis convinces a Canadian self-help guru to come to London and become his personal life coach.

Plot Keywords:

Self Help | Musician | Question In Title | Camaro | Break Up

Awards:

6 wins

Cast

Robert Pattinson	...	Art
Rebecca Pidgeon	...	Mother
Powell Jones	...	Dr. Ellington
Jeremy Hardy	...	Jeremy
Michael Irving	...	Father
Mike Pearce	...	Nikki
Johnny White	...	Ronny
Alisa Arnah	...	Jessica
Joe Hastings	...	Dave
Biddy Rowe	...	Woman at Old House
Tim Rowe	...	Boy at Old House
Bart Kusse	...	Child Art
Augustin Irving	...	Child Father
Mirabel Kelly	...	Woman in Supermarket
Bernard Kelly	...	Landlord
David Hoggard	...	Child Dr. Ellington
Grace Hoggard	...	Child Mother
Callum Needham	...	Skateboard Boy
Sarah Needham	...	Dr. Ellington's Mother
Michael Williams	...	Gareth
Nic Tuft	...	Supermarket Manager
Tim Barker	...	Man on Train
Phillip Carey	...	Re-Birth Hippy
Katkin Tague	...	Re-Birth Hippy / Nikki's Girlfriend
Winston Rutherford	...	Homeless Man #1
Matt Grimwood	...	Homeless Man #2
Amy Hickey	...	Nikki's Girlfriend
Christian Hedges	...	Goth Boy
Claire Scotton	...	Goth Girl
Davinder Singh	...	Newsagent
Brenda Fox	...	Care Centre Resident
Emma Fenn	...	Care Centre Resident
William Hayward	...	Care Centre Resident
Sarah Hughes	...	Care Centre Resident
Claire John	...	Care Centre Resident
Nick King	...	Care Centre Resident
Nicola Patterson	...	Care Centre Resident
Andrew White	...	Ronny's Dad
Angela Abelian	...	Ronny's Dad's Girlfriend
David Kelly	...	Office Client #1
John Wong	...	Office Client #2
Mioko Fujisaki	...	Office Client #3
Sarah Hyman	...	Office Secretary
Stephen Noel	...	Sleeping Man at Gig
Gary Moore	...	Gig Sound Man
Andre Els	...	Gig Darts Player
Bonnie Kennell	...	Gig Venue Punter
Camila Fiori	...	Leona (Girl at the bar)
Lucy Harvey	...	Gig Venue Punter
Albert Walsh	...	Barman
Trisha Faulkner	...	Carboot Seller #1
Bart Tuft	...	Carboot Seller #2 (as Bartholomew Tertius Tuft)
Lee Tailor	...	Car Boot Buyer
Victoria Steventon	...	Scooter Girl
Joe Bor	...	Pub Crowd
Hester Campbell	...	Pub Crowd
Amy Clamp	...	Pub Crowd
Emma Coleman	...	Pub Crowd
Miles Coleman	...	Pub Crowd
Imogen Crouch-Hyde	...	Pub Crowd
Kirsty Grafton	...	Pub Crowd
Ellie Grouin	...	Pub Crowd
Sophie Hampton	...	Pub Crowd
Joe Horwood	...	Pub Crowd
Nik Jennings	...	Pub Crowd
Adam Killip	...	Pub Crowd
Winnie Salisbery	...	Pub Crowd
Shizue Shigeta	...	Pub Crowd
Gwenllian Stein	...	Pub Crowd
Tim Stewart	...	Pub Crowd
Emma Stradwick	...	Pub Crowd
Maria von Schantz Tylestam	...	Pub Crowd
Kristina Vulganoua	...	Pub Crowd
Danielle Walker	...	Pub Crowd
Martin Zuerto	...	Pub Crowd

Directed by
Oliver Irving

Produced by
Scott Bassett	....	line producer
Justin Kelly	....	producer
Michael Williams	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Joe Hastings

Cinematography by
Paul Swann

Film Editing by
Reuben Irving

Casting by
Urvashi Chugani

Production Design by
Nic Tuft

Art Direction by
Stefania Buonajuti
Paul Harvey

Makeup Department
Amy Elliot	....	assistant makeup artist
Rachael Py	....	makeup artist
Tinks Reding	....	makeup artist: Rebecca Pidgeon

Production Management
Scott Bassett	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Francesca Farran-Lee	....	third assistant director
Nick Simmonds	....	second assistant director
Lee Tailor	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Rebecca Amissah	....	art department assistant
Bart Tuft	....	standby art director

Sound Department
Tim Barker	....	sound recordist
Steve Browell	....	supervising dialogue editor
Juan Manuel Delfin	....	assistant sound editor
Dominique Devoucoux	....	adr supervisor
Dominique Devoucoux	....	director of sound services
Dominique Devoucoux	....	foley supervisor
Phil Freudenfeld	....	foley editor
Phil Freudenfeld	....	sound designer
Phil Freudenfeld	....	sound effects editor
Gernot Fuhrmann	....	sound recordist
Sue Harding	....	foley artist
Yagmur Kaplan	....	adr mixer
Juliet Plumptre	....	boom operator
Kath Pollard	....	sound re-recording mixer
Vanesa Lorena Tate	....	dialogue editor
Vanesa Lorena Tate	....	sound designer
Vanesa Lorena Tate	....	supervising sound editor

Visual Effects by
James Ballard	....	production executive: Dragon DI
Geoffrey R. Case	....	digital colourist
Valentina Catena	....	digital colorist assist
Michele De Benedetti	....	digital clean-up
Julie Harding	....	DI producer: Dragon DI (as Julie Pucher)
Myfanwy Harris	....	digital intermediate operator: Dragon DI
Tony Ray	....	digital intermediate executive: Dragon DI
Paul J. Wright	....	scanning and recording manager

Camera and Electrical Department
Gareth Brough	....	best boy spark
Grace Donaldson	....	key grip
Thomas English	....	Steadicam operator
James Friend	....	best boy: additional photography
Gunnar Heidar	....	gaffer: additional photography
Rod Patterson	....	camera car
Rod Patterson	....	grip
Richard Perry	....	sparks
Sol Saihati	....	gaffer: additional photography
Richard Unger	....	still photographer
Chris Williams	....	first assistant camera
Chris Williams	....	focus puller

Casting Department
Rohan Chand	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lucy Harvey	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Gary John Moore	....	music score engineer

Other crew
Will Abbott	....	set runner
Charles Bates	....	production accountant
Mathilde Bouts	....	script supervisor
Matt Grimwood	....	production coordinator
Vinnie Jassal	....	location manager
Danielle Kummer	....	location assistant
Brenda Marchetti	....	production assistant

Thanks
Denis Krupnov	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• How To Be Films

Distributors

• Shaw Organisation (2010) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Entertainment One Benelux (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Film1 (2011) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2008) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Irfan Film (2010) (Turkey) (all media)
• Network (2009) (UK) (DVD)
• Paris Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)

Other Companies

• Dragon Digital Intermediate  post-production facilities
• Tate Post  sound post-production

Also Known As:

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:MA | South Korea:12 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG (edited version) | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

How To Be Films

Trivia:

The song in the trailer is the 'Hammond Song' by The Roches.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the bar scene, the level of beer in Art's glass jumps around several times, from nearly full to nearly empty and back again.

Quotes:

Mother:Why are you smiling?
Art:I got a surprise for you and dad.
Mother:Don't say that dear.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Michael Phelps/Lil' Wayne (#34.1)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

I'm Doing Fine

Lovely, quirky, and polished film. Pattinson is great, but so is everything else.

I attended the DC Independent Film Festival's screening of How To Be here in Washington, DC.

I loved it! I like quiet little movies like this. It's all dialogue-rich, and location sets, and natural composition. I thought the casting was perfect: the characters were organic and realistic, other than Dr. Ellington (the personal therapist) who was supposed to be a caricature rather than a true character in the film. This gave it a subtly surreal dynamic, which I thought was a nice touch.

The script was great, IMO. I generally like good character sketches, though, so I suppose I could see people who are not interested in the same being less than thrilled with it. But I like the themes that Art brings to the story. They are typical and simple themes, like love, direction, family, friends, work, sadness, happiness. The characters are wholly irreverent and hilariously unique. For a very small film, this script is nicely fleshed out.

The direction, production, and editing were great! I didn't catch any mistakes. They had a thorough cinematographer, too. I thought the lighting was pleasing, and the sound was mixed/edited nicely.

And yes. Rob Pattinson's performance is stellar. For being a self-proclaimed "untrained" actor, he's got such a wonderful and daring on-screen presence. Art is pathetic...so freakin' pathetic. And Pattinson embodies him with such precise depth. His comedic delivery, his physical timing, his vocal performance; I swear, it's all flawless. He really reaches inside himself to find that space where depression and anxiety live, and he dives into the process of putting himself back together again. You really root for the guy, pathetic as he is. As Pattinson's fame swells exponentially in the coming years, this one will become a sleeper testament to his acting chops--teeny bopper vampire love stories be damned.