Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

The Art of Getting By

  • 2011
  • PG-13
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
62K
YOUR RATING
Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts in The Art of Getting By (2011)
George (Highmore), a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done his schoolwork, is befriended by Sally (Roberts), a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
Play trailer2:22
11 Videos
99+ Photos
Coming-of-AgeRomantic ComedyComedyDramaFamilyRomance

George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who has made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who re... Read allGeorge, a lonely and fatalistic teen who has made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who has made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.

  • Director
    • Gavin Wiesen
  • Writer
    • Gavin Wiesen
  • Stars
    • Freddie Highmore
    • Emma Roberts
    • Michael Angarano
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    62K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Gavin Wiesen
    • Writer
      • Gavin Wiesen
    • Stars
      • Freddie Highmore
      • Emma Roberts
      • Michael Angarano
    • 100User reviews
    • 116Critic reviews
    • 36Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations total

    Videos11

    The Art of Getting By
    Trailer 2:22
    The Art of Getting By
    The Art Of Getting By: A Year's Worth Of Homework
    Clip 0:58
    The Art Of Getting By: A Year's Worth Of Homework
    The Art Of Getting By: A Year's Worth Of Homework
    Clip 0:58
    The Art Of Getting By: A Year's Worth Of Homework
    The Art Of Getting By: You And George Should Be Together, Sally
    Clip 0:57
    The Art Of Getting By: You And George Should Be Together, Sally
    The Art Of Getting By: With The Good Ones It's Not Right
    Clip 0:49
    The Art Of Getting By: With The Good Ones It's Not Right
    The Art Of Getting By: Which Novel
    Clip 1:08
    The Art Of Getting By: Which Novel
    The Art Of Getting By: He's Amazing
    Clip 0:35
    The Art Of Getting By: He's Amazing

    Photos157

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 151
    View Poster

    Top cast24

    Edit
    Freddie Highmore
    Freddie Highmore
    • George Zinavoy
    Emma Roberts
    Emma Roberts
    • Sally Howe
    Michael Angarano
    Michael Angarano
    • Dustin
    Sasha Spielberg
    Sasha Spielberg
    • Zoe Rubenstein
    Marcus Carl Franklin
    Marcus Carl Franklin
    • Will Sharpe
    Ann Dowd
    Ann Dowd
    • Mrs. Grimes
    Maya Ri Sanchez
    • Cynthia
    Blair Underwood
    Blair Underwood
    • Principal Martinson
    Ann Harada
    Ann Harada
    • Mrs. Dougherty
    Rita Wilson
    Rita Wilson
    • Vivian Sargent
    Jarlath Conroy
    • Harris McElroy
    Elizabeth Reaser
    Elizabeth Reaser
    • Charlotte Howe
    Andrew Levitas
    Andrew Levitas
    • Javier
    Sam Robards
    Sam Robards
    • Jack Sargent
    Alicia Silverstone
    Alicia Silverstone
    • Ms. Herman
    Dan Leonard
    Dan Leonard
    • Nick
    Sophie Lane Curtis
    Sophie Lane Curtis
    • Chastity
    • (as Sophie Curtis)
    Joseph Ernest
    • Student
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Gavin Wiesen
    • Writer
      • Gavin Wiesen
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews100

    6.561.6K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    7antchinn

    Great to watch once

    Most movies you only really watch once, unless its like American Beauty or Superbad, where it takes a fair few watches to get old. Without a doubt this movie is great, the character 'George' is one of those characters in a film who's name you search afterwards to find other movies with they've featured in, as he plays the role of a; confused, troubled, intelligent, different teenager who most could relate to at that age. If you want a movie that makes you think afterwards and can relate to, then I'd say watch it. It's great for a night in, but I'd say the downfalls is the fact that yet again like most of these types of films is predictable, but other than that I'd say the acting is great and its enjoyable to say the least.
    cosmo_tiger

    Another good movie made even better by the acting. Highmore & Roberts will be winning Oscars soon. Good watch. I say B+

    "We all die alone, so why am I supposed to spend my life working, sweating, struggling...I have better things to do with my time." George (Highmore) is a high schooler who has pretty much given up. Bitter with the world and his mother he refuses to do anything and hasn't done a real day's work in his entire senior year. He meets Sally (Roberts) who sees the same thing in herself. This is a very good movie made better by the acting. Highmore, in a departure from his usual disgustingly good boy roles is excellent in this. Roberts, who is fast becoming a better actress then her aunt is, is also fantastic in this movie. The role of George is written to be a total jerk to most people he meets, but Highmore has enough "baggage" with him that even though he is not nice to almost everyone in the movie you still wind up rooting for him and wanting him to succeed by the end. That is a rare thing for an actor that young. While this is a very good movie that forces you to keep watching it does tend to drag in a few places, but not enough to be boring. If that makes sense. Overall, a very good movie with great acting that is a definite watch. The type of movie that all high schoolers should watch. I give it a B+.

    *Also try - Happythankyoumoreplease & It's Kind Of A Funny Story
    arjantin78

    how do they leave reviews shorter than 600 chars?

    This movie is beyond pointless. It is privileged teenage delusions presented as something substantial and relatable. I do not want to talk about the technical aspects of the movie as they are not important compared to the pointlessness of the story and characters. It is soo pointless that I would have liked to stop this review three sentences ago if it were not for the minimal length requirement. The writer of the movie must be a privileged no-lifer to think that this story and these characters would mean anything to people with real problems in life.

    Yeah buddy, you are so cool that you do not know what cosine is, we get it.
    7thatmovieguy91

    Excellent Drama Film, Great Cast

    I loved this movie. Remined me of when I was in high school, by the way Im only 20 yrs old. Rmeinded me of the people I dealt in high school, teachers, not having a lot of friends, girls I met over time.

    Here is a short summary of the movie George played by Freddie Highmore, is a senior in high school who narrates throughout the movie, is does not do his homework or listen in class instead he draws sketches and doodles. After a few days George meets this girl Sally played by Emma Roberts who becomes friends with him and falls in love with him, well George doesn't know what to feel and ends up losing her, he get a last chance to complete all his work for a whole yearn in order to graduate high school given to him by his principal. George lives with his mom and stepdad who lost his job and is leaving them. Towards the end of the movie George has to complete an art project, one project of the whole year in order to graduate and ends up painting an awesome portrait.

    Great artistic drama with some comedy scenes that will make you laugh, because they remind you of when you were young and in school. Great cast. Especially Emma Roberts and Freddie Highmore, the two main people in the film.

    I recommend this movie for people who love art, who likes romantic/drama films, and everyone else.

    I bummed it did not make its way to theaters and got only a release at the Sundance Film Festival and on DVD and bluray. This movie could of done very well at the box office.

    I give it 7 out of 10 stars, for its great cast, great plot and great story.
    6JimmyCollins

    Bittersweet teen romance thats very different to the usual fare.

    this movie has gotten a pretty bad rap, it supposedly got terrible reviews from critics when it was first released and it didn't perform well at the box office but i don't see what is so horrible about it, i thought it was a nice, easily watchable film that didn't follow the usual cliché storyline that most teen romance films follow.

    Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts are rather sweet together, although i have to say the Emma Roberts character is slightly annoying and a bit of a hussy, obviously she's picked this up from her mother but besides that the two leads are great together and have a genuine awkwardness between them that is really funny and nice to watch.

    The only time that i thought the movie faltered was when it started to deal with the family side of the story, i didn't find it very interesting and it seemed like a kinda boring subplot. I would have liked to see more scenes with Alicia Silverstone because she is great and it was cool to see her in a very different role like this. Also the lack of soundtrack lets this film down slightly but this is an independent film so i guess you have to make allowances for that.

    So if you're looking for a teen film that is a tad left of field, check this out.

    More like this

    I Love You, Beth Cooper
    5.3
    I Love You, Beth Cooper
    Post Grad
    5.3
    Post Grad
    Finding Neverland
    7.6
    Finding Neverland
    Grand Champion
    4.3
    Grand Champion
    Mustache
    8.4
    Mustache
    Aquamarine
    5.4
    Aquamarine
    Nancy Drew
    5.9
    Nancy Drew
    The Spiderwick Chronicles
    6.5
    The Spiderwick Chronicles
    Prom
    5.4
    Prom
    Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard
    5.3
    Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard
    We Bought a Zoo
    7.0
    We Bought a Zoo
    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
    6.7
    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      In the first scene, the camera passes by Tom's Restaurant, the same restaurant featured in Seinfeld (1989), aka Monk's.
    • Quotes

      George Zinavoy: I read a quote once when I was a kid "We live alone, We die alone. Everything else is just an illusion." it used to keep me up at night.

    • Alternate versions
      The UK release was cut, this film was originally seen for advice in an unfinished version. The BBFC advised the distributor the film was likely to receive a 15 classification but that the requested 12A classification could be obtained by reducing the number of uses of strong language. When the finished version of the film was submitted for classification, the number of uses of strong language had been reduced from five to one. Accordingly, the film was classified 12A.
    • Connections
      Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.22 (2011)
    • Soundtracks
      We Will Become Silhouettes
      Written by Benjamin Gibbard, James Tamborello aka The Postal Service

      Performed by The Shins

      Courtesy of Sub Pop Records

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ21

    • How long is The Art of Getting By?Powered by Alexa
    • What songs are featured in the film?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 17, 2011 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Homework
    • Filming locations
      • New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Goldcrest Pictures
      • Mint Pictures
      • Island Bound Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,430,241
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $679,160
      • Jun 19, 2011
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,892,130
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 23 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts in The Art of Getting By (2011)
    Top Gap
    What is the Japanese language plot outline for The Art of Getting By (2011)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb app
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb app
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb app
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.