How to Be

How to Be

Slamdance Film Festival Poster
Directed by Oliver Irving
Produced by Justin Kelly
Written by Oliver Irving
Starring Robert Pattinson
Rebecca Pidgeon
Jeremy Hardy
Powell Jones
Michael Irving
Music by Joe Hastings
Cinematography Paul Swann
Edited by Reuben Irving
Distributed by IFC Films[1]
Release dates
  • 18 January 2008 (2008-01-18) (Slamdance Film Festival)[2]
  • 29 April 2009 (2009-04-29) (United States)[3][4]
Running time
 84 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £250,000[5]

How to Be is a 2008 independent comedy-drama film written and directed by Oliver Irving. It is about a young man named Art, played by Robert Pattinson, who is going through a quarter-life crisis.[3][6] The film premiered in competition at 2008 Slamdance Film Festival on January 18, 2008.[2] The film was also selected to open 2008 Strasbourg International Film Festival and Pattinson received 'Best Actor in a Feature' award for his portrayal of Art at the festival.[7][8][9]

Plot

Art (Pattinson) is not talented, but aspires to be a musician. He has a dead-end job at a supermarket, despite having a degree (which he doesn't seem to value much). His girlfriend ends their relationship. Art is then forced to move back home with his cold and neglectful parents (played by Pidgeon and Michael Irving). Art buys a book titled, It's Not Your Fault. Upon reading it, he tries to follow the self-help book's advice. He decides to use inheritance money to first buy a car, and then pay for a Canadian therapist, Dr. Levi Ellington (Jones), the book's author, to come to his home in England and help Art get his life on track, about which his parents are less than thrilled.

Despite his unsupportive parents, Art attempts with his new life coach and two slightly unbalanced friends Nikki (Pearce) and Ronnie (White) to find a balance in his life, true happiness, and a good relationship with his parents.

The film also stars Jeremy Hardy as Art's superior at the care centre at which he volunteers.

Cast

Production

Casting for the film took more than a year. Initially Simon Amstell was attached to the project. Talking about the casting Irving said that "He (Rob) understood what we wanted to achieve, he was musical and had completely the right look. To find all those elements was incredible: the final piece in the puzzle."[5]

For his role of awkward and geeky musician in the film, Pattinson's looks were altered. According to Irving "I said, 'You're banned from cutting your hair between now and the shoot, we had to give him the most awkward haircut we possibly could, and we cut his trouser length a little bit too high. Things like that played down his apparent good looks." And about his musical abilities, Irving added that "He downplayed how good he was, a lot of the time he would turn out to have a really good technique (while playing the guitar and harmonica) and we told him he needed to play it more simply."[4]

Filming took place in early 2007.[5]

Distribution

How to Be was released in the United States by IFC Festival Direct on 29 April 2009. Leading up to the release, the director, Oliver Irving, took the film on a United States screening tour. The DVD was released first in the United Kingdom on 18 May 2009 and was released in the United States on 17 November 2009.[10]

Music

How to Be Soundtrack : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Joe Hastings & various artists
Released April 28, 2009 (U.S.)
Recorded Various times
Genre Soundtrack
Label Dreamboat Records
Producer Joe Hastings and Gary Moore

The score for the film was composed by Joe Hastings and songs for the album was chosen by music supervisor Gary Moore. The album contain 23-tracks, three original songs performed by Robert Pattinson and by musician-actor Johnny White, who plays Ronny in the film. It also features "Old Man" by Love, "Clear Spot" by Captain Beefheart and "Hammond Song" by The Roches. The album was released by Dreamboat Records on April 28, 2009.[3][11][12][13]

Track listing

  1. Opening Credits - Joe Hastings
  2. "Chokin' on the Dust" (Part 1) - Robert Pattinson
  3. "It's not your fault" - Joe Hastings
  4. "Hell Awaits" - The Rollercoaster Project
  5. "You don’t actually have things all that bad"
  6. "Old Man" - Love
  7. "Chokin' on the Dust" (Part 2) - Robert Pattinson
  8. "Sometimes we all need a little help" - Joe Hastings
  9. "Dr Ellington Arrives" - Joe Hastings
  10. "Visualize a time" - Joe Hastings
  11. "Jam Session"
  12. "1996" - The Rollercoaster Project
  13. "Nikki's Song" - Mike Pearce
  14. "Puzzle" - Joe Hastings
  15. "Cemetery" - Joe Hastings
  16. "Off License" - Joe Hastings
  17. "Process 1" - The Rollercoaster Project
  18. "Clear Spot" - Captain Beefheart
  19. "Hammond Song" - The Roches
  20. "Final Call" - Joe Hastings
  21. "You're not a nobody"
  22. "Doin' Fine" - Robert Pattinson
  23. End Credits - Joe Hastings

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews, while Pattinson's performance was praised. Prairie Miller of News Blaze gave film three stars out of five and praised Pattinson's performance by saying that "(he played) A kind of problem child with whiskers in this delayed coming of age family dyfunction outing, Pattinson impresses with his broad range, while doing daffy and despair simultaneously."[14] Geo Euzebio in her review for Cineplayer criticized the film by saying that "seems more of the same: A dramedy about characters and dysfunctional families, with humor and structure based on American independent comedy." But ultimately praised Pattinson that "(his) performance is interesting and he hits the pitch with the pseudo-musician who only scratches few chords on the guitar, but still want to live their art."[15]

However Peter Debruge from Variety gave the film a negative review by saying that "(it) is a taxing reminder that middle-class depression ranks among cinema's least engaging topics."[16]

Film festivals

How to Be had its world premiere at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Honorable Mention.[2][17] It has since been chosen to appear at:

Accolades

Accolades
Year Award / Film Festival Category Recipient(s) Result
2008 New Orleans Film Festival Best Narrative Feature - Audience Award Oliver Irving Won[23]
Slamdance Film Festival Special Jury Honorable Mention for Narrative Feature Oliver Irving Won[17]
Strasbourg International Film Festival Best Actor Robert Pattinson Won[7]
2009 George Lindsey UNA Film Festival Special Jury Honorable Mention for Professional Full - Length Narrative Golden Lion Award Oliver Irving Won
Washington DC Independent Film Festival Audience Award - Best Feature Oliver Irving Won[24]
Grand Jury Award - Best Feature Oliver Irving Won[24]

References

  1. ↑ "Interview: Robert Pattinson on his film, HOW TO BE". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "2008 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FEATURES COMPETITION AND SPECIAL PROGRAMS". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Robert Pattinson's 'How To Be' To Make TV Debut 'Twilight' star's new film will be shown on IFC Festival Direct beginning April 29.". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Why Rob Pattinson Almost Gave Up Acting". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 "Observations: Oliver Irving gets by with a little help from his friends". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "ABOUT HOW TO BE". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Strasbourg International Film Festival *2008 Awards*". strasbourgfilmfest.com. 2008-01-25. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  8. ↑ Robert Pattinson won Strasbourg International Film Festival's 'Best Actor. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "HTB". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  10. ↑ UK DVD release and screenings "UK DVD release and screenings" Check |url= value (help). Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "How to Be (Original Soundtrack) [Soundtrack]". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "The soundtrack". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "How To Be soundtrack". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  14. ↑ "How To Be DVD Review: Robert Pattinson Bitten By Love". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  15. ↑ "(How to Be, 2008)". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "Review: ‘How to Be’". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  17. 1 2 "2008 Slamdance Film Festival Announces Awards Winners". slamdance.org. 2008-01-25. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
  18. 1 2 "Rhode Island International Film Festival". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Strasbourg International Film Festival". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "Derby City Film Festival". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  21. ↑ "ROB PATTINSON SCHEDULED TO ATTEND AFF!". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  22. ↑ "Gotham screen 2008" (PDF). Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  23. ↑ "How To Be Originally screened October 11, 2008". Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  24. 1 2 "Perfect Storms: The 11th Annual D.C. Independent Film Festival". Retrieved 6 March 2014.

External links

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