The Go-Getter (2008)

OH, BROTHER Lou Taylor Pucci sets out to find his long-lost sibling and encounters the usual collection of indie oddballs in the meandering Go-Getter

The first road movie that could fit into the mumblecore genre of dithering youth angst: The Go-Getter travels, but it doesn't go anywhere. As Mercer, who cruises down the West Coast, Lou Taylor Pucci is like a wan, passive Johnny Depp who always looks as if he's about to burst into tears. Mercer meets the usual grab bag of Outlandishly Colorful American Oddballs (in other words, the sort of people who exist only in movies like this), but his one real link, tiresomely, is to someone off screen: the long-lost ne'er-do-well half brother he's searching for. Jena Malone, as a sexy hellcat, perks things up a bit, and M. Ward's lovely indie-folk soundtrack adds a wisp of soul to the mood of hip self-pity. C