The Spectacular Now

As I watch The Spectacular Now, i cannot help but reminisce on my younger years, when now was all that matters, when love was crazy and earth shattering, and when thoughts of the future felt unnecessary. For Average Joes out there, it is easy to find something to connect to in this film as it tells a grounded story that reflects on teenage experiences, from dreams, to falling in love, to the struggles to conform. As for the our dearest leads, i was Wowed by Miles and Shailene's absurdly natural performances, further allowing me to relate to the film through its characters. With their awkward mannerisms, spontaneous reactions, energetic and intense moments, I sincerely felt that they, were once us. Great job by the filmmakers for creating such a soulful and sincere teenage movie that is extraordinarily ordinary (in the realist sort of way).

Greetings again from the darkness. Coming-of-age teen dramas with a comedic flair that speak to that tumultuous period of life are rarely worthy of discussion. The exceptions hover film greatness: Rebel Without a Cause, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dazed and Confused, The Breakfast Club, and Say Anything ... Along comes young director James Ponsoldt and his adaptation of Tim Tharp's novel. While not perfect and falling just short of the level of those classics, it is nonetheless a welcome addition and quite interesting.

It's tempting to call Sutter (played by up-and-comer Miles Teller) a happy-go-lucky kid. He's the frat boy type - quick with a quip, smooth with the parents and girls, and the envy of the masses. That term would be misapplied to a kid who not only is never without his flask, but also gives them as gifts. He uses his wit and booze to dull the pain of his aimless existence. We see his lackadaisical efforts at completing a college admission form, and it's used as a plot device to track Sutter's progression through the film.

Brie Larson is terrific as Sutter's perfect match ... right up until she decides that his philosophy of living in the now (even spectacularly) doesn't leave hope for much of a future. After an extreme night of drinking and partying, Sutter gets awakened while laying in a neighbor's front yard. Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) is Aimee Finicky who recognizes the popular Sutter, even though he has no idea who she is. Slowly, the two connect on a level previously unknown to either ... some good, some not so wise (just like real teenagers).

This couple of opposites learn much from each other, and soon enough, Sutter is confronting his long last father (Kyle Chandler). No real surprises what he discovers, but it's a life lesson that must be learned. Sutter seeks more from his remaining family - a big sister (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who escaped the grind, and a workaholic mom (Jennifer Jason Leigh) doing her best to provide hope for Sutter.

The script is co-written by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber who also wrote (500) Days of Summer. John Hughes and Cameron Crowe proved they could present teen dilemmas in an entertaining way, and this one follows the same structure. This is a dialogue-heavy story as Sutter and Aimee struggle alone and together to figure out life's next steps.

I will say that for the first few minutes of the movie, I found Sutter to be the kind of guy that I would typically have no interest in. Tip of the cap to the filmmakers and Miles Teller for turning that around. It should also be noted that Shailene Woodley is so naturally affecting, that her character never comes across as anything but sincere. Given the state of today's mainstream coming of age stories, this one definitely deserves a look and could gather some attention come awards time.

The Spectacular Now is a coming-of-age drama mixed with young love story about Sutter (Miles Kelly, an interesting, uncynical young find who can communicate a lot of different sides to this character without coming off too fresh or overwrought) who starts off obnoxious (but in the way that is believable to the way that teenage boys can get obnoxious) and in the wake of a failed relationship meets a good, sweet girl, Amy, and a natural relationship unfolds in their senior year of High School. While this is going on, he has a problem with alcohol - which extends to Amy - and about a past history that Sutter has to confront with a dead- beat father.

The film that is very well written (based on a book but having that same quality in the dialog and story turns that speaks to their intelligence at navigating conventions) without being show-offy, and performances that feel raw and sensitive and try to avoid a lot of clichés (or that Hollywood way of showing teenagers "like we think they are" as opposed to how they are closer to life), and a strong dramatic story about young love and overcoming the flaws in yourself.

It's not perfect, and has a few little things with the alcohol element to the film that irked me (which is much bigger than what you may realize seeing the trailer, much more actually, it's really a companion piece with this director's previous movie Smashed which is also about boozing), but its real and honest and that's so rare to find in a teenage story like this. Woodley has a long career ahead of her, and has that great distinction of being naturally pretty, dramatically intuitive, and yet is not SO pretty that you can't accept her as a cute teenager girl (or... dare I say Mary Jane in the next Spiderman movie?) Go see it - it's not top 10 of the year great, but it's great in the ways that matter for a story like this.

Compared to other movie adaptations of teen novels, this is one of the good ones. It stayed true to the book, maybe with a slight alternate ending, but it didn't deviate from the plot. I felt Teller portrayed Sutter very well and both the main leads' acting felt genuine and believable.

The story isn't a predictable one, sure you have a stunning Woodley playing a girl who hasn't ever had a boyfriend, a part that was hard to believe. However, from how Woodley portrays Aimee, the typical nice girl, you can understand from Aimee's character and personality why she hasn't. I wish the movie would have added a bit more of how much Aimee changed because of Sutter, and some of the negative changes too, something that the book focuses a lot more on. I suggest to those planning on watching this to read the book as well, as I found that I got to know the characters a lot better from reading it.

If you're up for a feel-good, light comedy with predictable movie romance formula, this probably isn't that type of flick. I'd call this a more coming-of-age film which definitely has a Say Anything and Kings of Summer vibe, and if you liked The Spectacular Now then I would definitely watch those movies.

I found The Spectacular now to be a very refreshing movie to watch. We've all seen the coming of age high school romance blahblahblah thing before, but the film takes you where you didn't expect it to go, and that is one of the qualities that makes it a great experience.

Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are fantastic, particularly Woodley. I don't know how you can't be a fan of Teller, he is his usual self in this one and adds even more depth to himself. Woodley's as real as it gets in her performance. I didn't notice it until my second viewing in terms of how natural she was, but she was terrific.

Those two are already great to cast as leads, but it's always fun when the casting for anything is just all around fantastic. Tamper your expectations a bit because it's all about the leads in this one, but Coach Taylor, Bubbles, and Saul Goodman are great in the limited time they are on screen. I mean, Kyle Chandler, Andre Royo, and Bob Odenkirk.

The emotional impact of this film really hit me towards the end, and certain factors are very predominant in the movie that you definitely do not expect. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say take away a lot of the laughs you were expecting, and brace yourself for the feels and a very serious tone. This may damper some who came for this because it's from the dudes who did 500 Days of Summer, but It's still very good and the movie is actually funny in the spots it wants to be.

Overall, I think this is absolutely a film you want to see. Where the story goes widens the appeal of this movie by far in my opinion, so if you were just not going to see it or judged it by the trailers, don't. Give it a shot.