  Precocious teenage boy who's a slacker at school because he
finds the material unstimulating? Check. Calls his teachers by
their first names, cuz he's quirky like that? Check. Reads
philosophy, watches foreign films in repertory theaters, fixates
on death and mortality? Has major potential as an
artist/writer/thinker if he'd just apply himself? Falls in love
with a classmate, leading to a journey of self-discovery and
coming of age? Check, check, check.  The familiarity of all
these elements isn't the problem; it's the unimaginative fashion
in which they've been cobbled together. 'Homework' is the first
feature by writer-director Gavin Wiesen, and I don't think
there's a single fresh idea anywhere in it. No witty dialogue,
interesting characters, or amusing scenarios, either. It should
have a plain brown label and be called ' Festival Movie.'  'Tis
a pity, because it has a good cast. Freddie Highmore ('Finding
Neverland,' 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory') plays George, a
Manhattan lad who reads Camus and