Review of The Spectacular Now (2013) by Justin C — 25 Aug 2014

The Spectacular Now is a 2013 indie film, starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley. These young actors are among the most sought after in Hollywood, particularly Woodley (after this film, The Descendents, and carries the Divergent franchise). After watching this film, you'll know what all the buzz is about.

The story centers on an unlikely teen relationship. Sutter (Miles Teller) is the life of the party (funny, charming, laughing, and always has a drink in his hand). Aimee is pretty much the opposite (unpopular, doesn't party, gets good grades, and is super dependable). After getting dumped by his girlfriend, he goes on a bender. He wakes up the next morning on the front lawn of Aimee (Woodley), who wakes him up. A friendship-turned-relationship ensues. Although, we get the feeling that Sutter is drunk through most of the relationship (including courting of Aimee). Aimee is just happy that a likable and popular guy like Sutter is even into her, so she's pretty much down for whatever.

All of these plot points may read like typical coming-of-age film stock, but the film is much more than that. It is a testament to the script (and the book it was based on) that each one of the characters feel real. The dialogue, actions, background, and emotional depth of the characters (in particular the two leads) give a three dimensional quality to them and makes us care about what happens to them. It takes good writing to make us feel and care for characters, and unfortunately it is lost in most major motion pictures that are being made today.

Even peripheral characters, such as Cassidy (exgirl-friend) and her new boyfriend, have such great scenes and show real warmth and emotion that we get to see things from their perspective and get to empathize with them, too. This leads me to Kyle Chandler's performance as Thomas, Sutter's estranged father. Chandler delivers a powerhouse performance in a major scene and basically stole the movie for about ten minutes. But Teller and Woodley are so damn good that they steal it right back.

If you like good character driven films, with emotional depth, go see this film. And watch the deleted scenes, because the original director's cut was much longer and he had to (unfortunately) cut some important scenes out.