THE GO-GETTER is Mercer, a 19-year old who makes a road trip in a stolen Volvo to seek his wayward half brother Arlen (Jsu Garcia) who he has not seen in 14 years.  Mercer (Lou Taylor Pucci) encounters new people and events (made more intriguing by writer/director Heyes), and the trip serves as a ritual to his coming-of-age. 

The communication between Mercer and the car owner (Zooey Deschanel) done by cell phone is a neat gimmick that works well.  The film has a free spirited flow and ambience that suit the character of the protagonist.  But the film suffers from the same trap often fallen by films written and directed by one and the same person.  All the characters turn out to be identical in nature – in this case quirky persons with an independent spirit with same kind of dialogue uttered.  One also feels a bit manipulated by the incidents occurring on screen.  Though an interesting premise, one would hardly expect anyone who has a car stolen be so accommodating to her thief.  The soundtrack is impressive with songs by M. Ward, Elliot Smith, the Black Keys and the Replacements.  At times, the film feels like a music video, especially when a tune is heard when Mercer hits the road.

THE GO-GETTER immediately brings to mind Sean Penn’s INTO THE WILD where a youth abandons all to do some soul searching.  While the former was more convincing as it took its protagonist’s whole life to spur his track into the wild, one wonders why Mercer waited all the while till his mother’s death to find his half-brother.  Heyes’ film eventually gets bogged down by the fact that the film is basically about a hokey road trip taken by a person that the director has not taken enough care to make his audience care about.