Review of The Spectacular Now (2013) by Reellm — 27 Jun 2015

5/5★ I usually watch teen films with a cynical eye for a few reasons but for the purpose of discussing The Spectacular Now I will mention only two.

First off, its hard to enjoy a film when I'm distracted by the fact that the cast usually looks nothing like most teens I meet, and in fact are usually in their mid 20's and even early 30's (Glee, Grease, 90210) with rare exceptions (Freaks and Geeks, at least part of the cast in John Hughes films.) The Spectacular Now features a cast in their 20's but actually look their movie ages, which leads me to my second point: Appearance.

Its not unthinkable that a teen should be as attractive, put together and pimple free as so many of these teen oriented films and shows would have you believe but still, most teens don't have stylists and makeup artists polishing their look, so yeah, Gossip Girl and its ilk feel inauthentic to the average teenage experience because of something as basic as looks. Shailene Woodley's bare, makeup-less face is not the only refreshing thing in this coming of age film that has great acting, writing and casting (Bubbles! Coach! Saul!). Most noteworthy of all, the film avoids the clichés usually associated with the genre and is an intelligent study of youth standing on the precipice of adulthood, hesitating to move forward, something most teens can relate to.

Verdict: Watch.