Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including sexual content, language, teen drinking and partying
Cast: Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Elizabeth Reaser, Sam Robards, Jarleth Conroy, Ann Dowd, Marcus Carl Franklin, Sasha Spielberg, Rita Wilson, Blair Underwood
Director: Gavin Wiesen
The film stars Freddie Highmore, who was once the go-to child actor for bigger-budget Hollywood fare ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Finding Neverland.") Highmore plays George Zinavoy, the aforementioned teen who is on the cusp of high school graduation. Or not. A resigned underachiever ("I'm a misanthrope," he states at one point. "It's not a choice... it's a fact,") he has fallen dreadfully behind in his assignments. Instead of schoolwork, he spends his time drawing richly-conceived artwork in his notebook yet never puts any of it to canvas despite his enrollment in an art class. He is repeatedly warned by his principal (Blair Underwood) to get it into gear, but those admonitions have little effect; George has been here before, knows the "drill," promises to do better, and that's that.
It's important to note that George is not a hostile personality. Quite the opposite. He's charming and answers those adults who criticize his lack of interest in an engagingly disarming way. Highmore is careful not to make the character too abrasive. George's outlook on life is a bit out of whack but we find ourselves rooting for him to feel his way through the angst.
He arrives home to receive daily inquiries into the prospect of college from his mother (Rita Wilson), a kind but increasingly exasperated woman who not only combats an unresponsive son but is married to a stiff would-be disciplinarian (Sam Robards) who tries to set an example for George yet is battling his own secrets. George responds to his mother not like an angry teen but more as an enervated spouse. ("I'm tired. I've had a long day. I can't think about homework or college now. I'm going to take a nap.") He begins to emerge from his shell upon meeting two people... a fledgling artist named Dustin (Michael Angarano) and fellow high school outcast Sally Howe (Emma Roberts). George and Sally want to get closer but neither appears to know how to ignite a romance.
The movie is a coming-of-age story with love resting at its center. The problem for me was that the love story is the weakest part. I became most bored during George and Sally's scenes of budding romance because... there wasn't much budding. Neither seemed willing to engage. From what we know about George, his catatonic responses to Sally's interest are understandable. The character of Sally is the problem. I found her too hard to read. We know she's the daughter of a free-spirit mother (Elizabeth Reaser) who is unapologetic for both her drinking and her promiscuity. Yet we don't know how that affects Sally's perception of George. The only time she verbally introduces the possibility of romance is in an awkward scene in a restaurant, where she asks him to sleep with her, then backs off. Is she teasing him? Or is she serious but annoyingly fickle? I don't know. When one is too insecure to express his/her love, that can be heartbreaking. When both are uniformly timorous, that's frustrating.
The film's best elements exist on the periphery. I liked Rita Wilson as a caring but flawed woman who didn't create the best atmosphere for her son to capitalize on his talents, yet loves him intensely and strives to help. Blair Underwood is also strong here, playing a principal who likes the boy (he raises no objections to George calling him by his first name) yet understands that while a student pissing away his talent is a tragedy, such tribulations are hardwired into the human condition; he'll expel him if he has to. And in an uncredited performance, Alicia Silverstone has a couple nice scenes as a teacher who cares too much for George to act as the crutch for his indolent excuses. ("I've used up so much energy trying to get through to you. I'm not going to expend any more to defend you now.")
Writer/director Gavin Wiesen has put together a decent enough story about a young man learning to get over his fear of life. Highmore gives a thoughtful, engaging performance. The problem is the weak and muddy love story at the core. It just doesn't have a strong enough center. At one point, after Sally returns to join George for what may or may not be the start of a relationship, he asks "So what now?" She shrugs. "I don't know." Neither do I.
* * 1/2 out of * * * * stars
