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SUNDANCE 2007
The Go-Getter
"The Go-Getter" by Zack Roddy
It has been eight and a half months since nineteen-year-old Mercer's (Lou Taylor Pucci) mother died, and he still has not found a way to cope with it. One day on a whim, he steals a car from his Oregon town and sets off to find his half-brother, who is eighteen years older and has not yet heard the news. What Mercer does not yet realize is that this odyssey is not just for his brother, and will lead him down a path of self-discovery. When the car's owner named Kate (Zooey Deschanel) calls on a cell phone she left in the car, she forgives Mercer for taking it and encourages his journey, acting as a needed friend along the lonely roads of the United States, discussing issues of Mercer's and her self's lives, and forging an incredible bond between the two of them. With each location that Mercer visits, believing his brother to be there, he learns that his brother has moved on to somewhere different, leaving to face the open road again. Along the way he encounters many distractions, including a precocious former middle school flame named Joely (Jena Malone), his brother's former girlfriend now serving community service time (Maura Tierney), and a teenage pornography director named Sergio Leone (Julian Mechoso). As Mercer experiences each of these individuals, he learns more about himself, and with Kate's help, finds ways to cope with his mother's death.
An exquisitely written and filmed dramedy, The Go-Getter, written and directed by Martin Hynes, is a cinematic journey of wonder and discovery. With beautiful cinematography by Byron Shah, and dreamlike original music by M. Ward, at the center of the film is the skilled and soulful performance of Lou Taylor Pucci. Often the scenes of Mercer by himself driving are the best in the film, because Hynes can find a way to make the audience feel like they are in the car with Mercer. The Go-Getter is an excellently crafted film of self-discovery and beauty, and is a definite recommendation when it is picked up for theatrical release.
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