I watched this, thinking I would be fairly satisfied with what I saw, and maybe even end up loving the movie more than I expected. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Overall, the movie was completely sloppy and character development was just unrealistic and off. And the "love" story was not the saving grace either. Don't get me wrong, teenage love stories are my weakness. But this just didn't make sense. Characters were just too all over the place. Suddenly the misanthropic male has actually been in love with the girl the whole time? Really? And then, no wait, the girl loves him too? Oh wait, the girl loves him so much she decides to cheat on her boyfriend only to go and meet him at the airport anyway? No wait, she doesn't end up going on a plane! What a surprise! And don't even get me started on that painting at the end. Of all the things the kid could have painted (I'm sure the kid has had a lot of struggles) he decides to paint the girl???? Really???? Their relationship did not even seem that significant or had any impact (everything just came suddenly) and that's really who/what he paints? Disappointed. Only gave it a 4 cause I really like Freddie and the concept of the movie.

I had low expectations going into this film, perhaps expecting another '500 Days of Summer' rip off, but no, this is a good film that more than deserves the praise it receives.

The two leads are very good in their roles, and the script allows them both to have moments that mean we root for them as people.

It's honest about teenage life, and doesn't sugar coat moments just to make this a good popcorn movie.

It's rare that I watch a film that I engage with so much, and one I can see myself going back and watching again and again.

The Art of Getting By is one of these films.

What is life? What are we here for? Is there any chance to make sense of it? There are bleak answers to this. And the movie does start with at least one of those. Getting by - or maybe not. Then again if you are a teen, maybe you don't have much to say about how to get by. Still overthinking it is not helping any cause. Teachers who seem to have the right amount of pushing you while never giving up on you on the other hand ... but not everybody has those.

Now Emma Roberts calls the Freddie Highmore character a missanthrope. I wouldn't say that is entirely true. I would argue he just doesn't see any sense in life overall (at least at the beginning). The chemistry between those two works more than nicely. For the movie to work though you need a lot more than those two actors/characters. And you get quite a few of them.

Another important thing is how you feel about shy guys (and girls). If you can connect or at least not dismiss entirely, you'll have a winner here. If you are self confident yourself and don't care for characters like the ones portrayed here ... it'll be way more difficult to relate or have fun watching this. So I listed key points and if you haven't seen it yet, you should be able to decide if this romantic coming of age story is something that is interesting for you