The art of getting by - Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, things happened.

I do find the romantic film to be full of clichés, the way you can tell the story completely before you watch it, the characters are laid out and the attraction is seen, the relationship blossoms and then falls apart. The final act shows them despite all the hardships fate (or a vindictive writer) has put in their path getting back together and realising that they do love one another.

This movie at least was a break from that, it has good subplots to the romance that are well done and each leaves you feeling that the characters are more then what you see on the screen, that they are real not just realistic. Freddie Highmore plays the main character with such apathy to the world that seems to have been distilled from an entire generation of teenagers. His character lacks any motivation and seems to be coasting his way through school, so much so that he seems to have few if any friends before he meets the socially adept Sally played my Emma Roberts.

While the love is blossoming George is threatened with suspension due to not having done any homework that year and agrees to a job that leads him to meet his pathetic and kinda creepy foil Dustin the struggling artist. His friendship with Dustin turns sour and leads to the one part of Highmore's performance that I wasn't sold on; his portrayal of depression seems too clinical.

The other important plot that the film covers quite well is George's family life, with his mother and stepfather fighting over money troubles and his problems with school. His mother finds it harder and harder to relate to him and grows apart from his stepfather. This plot culminates in a scene that perfectly captures the mind of a teenage boy where he and his stepfather end up brawling over who is the biggest mess up, I am sure Freud would have a field day on this scene.

Like a couple, five or six years older, George and Sally go for drinks and talk about life and how they see the world. The relationship with Sally has a bittersweet ending and the two characters reconcile their love for one another as George manages to pull it together in the end to finish his high school workload. It feels in places as if Gavin Wiesen has ported a college relationship back to high school due to the maturity that George and Sally deal with their relationship. The moments where they are alone together seemed to be two teenagers playing scenes written for adults, when the characters reconcile they seem to act in a maturity that is beyond their years.

In general this is a good film that maps the hardships of an atypical teenage romance. I found it funny and at times really felt for the characters, definitely worth a watch and will not leave you disappointed even if it seems a little confused about what age the characters should be.