How to Be

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.

In my opinion, I thought this was a wonderful film for anybody who can relate. I've recently lived through this type of situation and the confusion, sadness and disjointedness Art feels trough out the film is all very... what word would be best to describe this... exact. Or almost. The film has been given the title of a comedy and, I agree. Though the production is more of a drama, you do have your sudden outbursts of laughter in those unexpected moments of comedic weirdness. I also appreciated the range of different actors in the film. It's in these types of movies you can actually see real acting talent. It's a must watch for any teen who is lost right now.

Art (Robert Pattinson) is a depressed poet musician who is searching for some meaning in his life. His mother (Rebecca Pidgeon) doesn't get it. His girlfriend breaks up with him. He finds a self-help web site touting Dr. Ellington (Powell Jones)'s book "It's Not Your Fault". He is so in awe that he convinces the author to come live with him.

I don't get the humor. It is undoubtedly very quirky. But it's also very dull. There is no energy anywhere on the screen. Robert Pattinson does a good and proper job of portraying this confused depressed kid. I think he's the only one working here. Everybody else is ridiculously mannered. The doctor is super creepy without being funny. Rebecca Pidgeon is stiff as a board.

The plot, the writing, the dialog, the acting all lack any power. It's only an indie is not a good excuse. This is really a movie for Pattinson fans only. Because he's the only good thing here.

After spending some time in the UK I honestly thought I get British humor. After watching this, I truly think I don't.

Although the movie is well produced, the character of Art played brilliantly by Pattinson, I found myself feeling mostly sorry for him and not seeing the funny part. I see the great job of all the people involved in the production but I can't say it suits my type of sense of humor. There were moments I smiled or half-smiled but never laughed at loud.

So, over all, I don't regret watching the movie, neither would I recommend it as a great, funny comedy .

I also attended a viewing in Chicago (I was dragged along). I'm British myself, I love edgy humor and good writing, I didn't find it here.

Virtually the entire audience were die hard Robert Pattinson fans, some even wearing the T-Shirts - I'd never heard of the guy before that day. I'm pretty sure he could have starred at a wall for 2 hours and still got 10 stars from a lot of people reviewing.

The whole thing is very amateurish, you can tell it's a festival kind of movie, and in this case it isn't a good thing. The comic timing is terrible which makes it really hard to laugh at anything, it was more cringe-worthy - although again, in a cinema full of Pattinson fans he merely had to make the slightest gesture and the place was filled with roars of laughter – I was left just looking around in disbelief!

Good enough concept but an absolute fail on the execution side. I very much doubt this is going to find a distributor, as they see exactly what I see – And with the same lack of bias (i.e. not being in love with the lead actor!)