The Go-Getter (2007)
By: Martin Hynes (director, writer)
Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, Zooey Deschanel, Jena Malone
When his mother dies, a teenager takes a road-trip in a stolen car to find his long-lost brother. Along the way he discovers a profound connection with the car-owner and with himself as well.
Oh, indie movies. I love thee, I hate thee, a lot of the time I don’t know what to do with thee. Take The Go-Getter, a thoroughly “indie” film in all the connotations that moniker embodies—It is not simply an indie, it is an indie road film, which is practically it’s own tired sub-genre at this point. Yes, yes, quirky characters embark on a personally-enlightening journey wherein they do quirky things and meet quirky people and have quirky experiences from within the safe zone of their quirky car. Honestly, it’s all a bit too white even for me, and I’m pretty damned white.
The Go-Getter isn’t a bad movie, but the thing is, it isn’t much of a movie at all. The acting is endearing, the cinematography lovely and evocative, but the film fails to be the sum of its parts. There are a lot of good things happening, but little to gel them together, leaving a meandering mess of preening hipster theology. It’s not bad, it is that most feared of entertainment descriptors: Boring. It tries to convince you it isn’t boring by being occasionally witty and quirky-quirky-quirky, but no. It’s been done before, and it’s been done better.
