Review: The Spectacular Now

by Trevor Kirkendall
★★★★

“The Spectacular Now” revolves around popular high school senior Sutter Keely (Miles Teller). He’s the self-described life-of-the-party wherever he goes. As the film opens, he’s in a relationship with one of the popular girls at school, Cassidy (Brie Larson). But just like many relationships in high school, it soon ends. This sends Sutter on an all night drinking binge.

He’s discovered the following morning sleeping on the front lawn of someone’s house by Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley). While Sutter may be one of the most popular guys in school, Aimee is one of the most quiet and shy girls. She keeps to herself, reading science fiction books, and doesn’t think too many people notice her. Sutter’s attraction to her couldn’t be more odd. But its not surprising to see why Aimee is attracted to Sutter since he’s so popular. Its not everyday when one goes from thinking they’re not noticed by anyone to catching the attention of Mr. Popular.

The film’s focus isn’t set just on Sutter and Aimee. Their relationship is a large part of the plot, but the film is all about Sutter. He is on camera for the entire duration of the film. We get to know him very well. He’s a slacker who doesn’t really care about school at all. Remember that guy in high school? He’s a party animal, constantly drinking alcohol, which makes him a boarder line alcoholic at the young age of 18. Remember that guy in high school? There’s a lot of familiarity with Sutter’s character.

Sutter likes to talk about living in the “now” and not looking back to the past or looking into the future. This is the mindset of many teenagers. Unfortunately, as many seniors are getting ready to graduate and move on, the “now” mindset is replaced by a hopefulness about the future. Not for Sutter. Even his deadbeat father (Kyle Chandler) shares the “now” mindset. 

“The Spectacular Now” is coming-of-age storytelling at its absolute finest. This film is full of heart and of emotional depth, and its built on such a simplistic premise. Here’s a movie chalk full of all the poignant connections we see in other humans and its only 95 minutes long. It relies only on its characters and its story to draw you in and make that connection.

The screenplay, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber who wrote the brilliant romantic comedy “(500) Days of Summer”, is full of subtle passages of dialogue the drive each scene. It never becomes long or monotonous. Instead, we merely have the honor of following Sutter throughout his final year in high school and seeing how the people in his life shape the outlook of his future. I could view this film a dozen more times and learn something new about these characters with every new viewing. I’ve often said that Bob and Charlotte of Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation” were two of the most realistic characters ever captured in cinema. You can now add Sutter Keely and Aimee Finecky to that list.

But only part of the credit for Sutter and Aimee’s realism can be given to the screenwriters. Director James Ponsoldt (who directed last year’s “Smashed” with Aaron Paul and Mary Elizabeth Winestead) also deserves much credit for being able to bring all the happy and sorrowful moments from the script into the performances of his young cast. Ponsoldt has a keen eye for the depths of human emotion found in the screenplays he directs, and possesses the innate ability to draw the performances he wants from his actors. Keep an eye on him.

The most sensational aspect of this film is without a doubt the performances of Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley. While the screenwriters and the director help create the characters, Teller and Woodley bring them to life and they are so realistic with their portrayals. These are two young performers who have as good of a grasp on their craft as any veteran. Both are mesmerizing to watch.

“The Spectacular Now” is one of the finest films made this year. Its a poignant coming-of-age story and a subtle masterpiece; I loved every single frame of this film. The film is full of all the emotions we experience everyday and is really a solid display of what films can and should be.