REVIEW: The Spectacular Now

PLOT: A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl."

REVIEW: Getting great reviews this summer in the midst of a season filled with blockbusters, mockbusters and more, The Spectacular Now is only out in limited release but its impact is more than merely limited. Based off of a novel by the same title, written by Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now is a story about teens seemingly written for adults. I know the original novel is mostly considered teen fiction, which I cannot begin to understand, but the story is definitely seen with a much better perspective through the eyes of an adult. The messages in this movie are very clear, and I think these are messages that can only be seen as an adult once this time in your life has passed you by and you know what it's like to feel the way the characters do in this film. I know this probably isn't the worst of teen fiction, and it certainly can't be the best, but it surprises me in a way that this story could even be relevant to a teenager. I know there are probably multiple cases of this story happening all around me and I don't even know it, but I guess I like to be oblivious to things like this because I never was much of a wild teenager. Keep in mind, this isn't particularly my kind of movie, though I like dramas, romance is typically completely off of my radar unless comedy is involved. While I may critique the realism of the film's portrayal of alcohol and teenage relationships, there were a lot of quality points in the film and it's definitely earned its certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The acting by the main two talents is nothing short of superb, and despite my gripes with their story, it's a good, relatable story for the audience that it's intended for.

The reason I think it's so hard for me to enjoy the relationship developed in the film personally, is because one of the film's larger messages deals with alcoholism, and especially alcoholism with teens. I find it extremely heartbreaking, as a non-drinker as well as a former teenager, that a family and core group of friends couldn't care enough about a guy to suggest that he has a problem with alcohol. It's even harder for me to watch a young man not only endanger himself witht he lifestyle he lives, despite his overflowing intelligence of the way the world works, but also endanger the well-being of his new crush. The he I speak of is Sutter Keely, played by Miles Teller in the film, and rarely is he seen without a cup or drinking device of some sort throughout the entire film. It's alluded to early on that his gas station sippy cups are not full of soda or water, but with alcohol. On one end of the spectrum I really liked Teller's performance, because he really nails the great thinker and rogue genius part of his character. Despite always being drunk, he is able to get through his daily life at school and work, and always end up partying by the end of it and usually seem intelligent doing it. But on the other hand, Sutter's repetitive belligerence becomes lost in a love story that for me is sort of hard to buy in to, knowing that he's constantly wasted. I felt that Miles Teller was really channeling a Swingers-era Vince Vaughn, but he does enough to make it feel like his own and comes off as a completely natural character that's as endearing as he is obnoxious.

Starring opposite Miles Teller is Shailene Woodley as Aimee, the girl who gets caught up in the mess that is Sutter's life and falls in love with the boy inside of the man. Woodley starred two years ago in The Descendants with George Clooney, which was a phenomenal movie, and to see her again was a good sight. I think she is a moderately talented actress as of right now, and like Teller, her natural delivery brings Aimee right off the screen into real life. Both actors did such a spectacular job with bringing their characters to life, that it's hard to hate the film and the love story it presents. What I don't like about Aimee, is her unwillingness to stand against Sutter, much like she was convinced that she needed to stand against her mother and show her that she could be her own person. Aimee gets so initially lost in Sutter's on and off love game, that when the worst actually happens she can look right through it and still love Sutter. I find love stories like this to be completely unbelievable, and to avoid from ruining the movie I will not go into any further detail. I just wish that sometimes these stories were a little more realistic, and the fact that Aimee was so gullible when hearing all of Sutter's sweet nothings and grand ideas just irked me to no end. What is important for the relationship in the film though is that the two stars have chemistry, and with their similar but unique portrayals of everyday kids in a problem ridden high school, the spark is shining from the beginning. Despite Sutter's incredible lack of committal to Aimee, and blindness to his own love, you can tell that the two make each other as happy as either has ever truly been.

The surrounding cast did a serviceable job, but they lack the charisma that the main two kids bring to the table. Kyle Chandler stars as Sutter's father Tommy, and though he's only in the movie for a brief scene or two, he does a great job at conveying the issues that face Sutter in his own life. I knew that the movie was going to build to the revelation of what his father was and who he was today, and for me it took away from the ultimate impact at the end of the movie because it's a played out drama that you can see coming from a mile away. Others include Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Sutter's sister, who does a great job as usual and Bob Odenkirk of Breaking Bad as Sutter's boss. Sutter and his boss share a  particular moment towards the end of the film that was probably the hardest hitting scene of emotion in my eyes, but still it wasn't much to drop a tear over. The drama plays out really well, and there's a lot to be learned from this movie in terms of life lessons for teenagers, but I didn't buy into the love story for a minute. I didn't like Sutter as a person, and it really damages the desire to see him succeed in playing this new girl into a relationship for however long he feels like it. It also detracts from you wanting the main character in the movie to be happy, because even though he eventually comes around and always seems to understand life and society on a higher level, he never quite comes across as a likeable guy. Aimee however, comes off as an extremely cool girl that you want to see continue to be happy, and with this movie you know that that can't be the case in the end. I'm also not a firm believer in these kind of films because to a teenager, the alcohol and mostly true acts of a teenager reinforce their view of the world at a young age. When you're an adult, you can see the end results and understand what's so wrong with the way this relationship plays out. But to a teenager, this is life, and it's normal, and fictions like these enforce those thoughts to a point that it will eventually become reality but with less desirable results. That's why despite this movie's mild greatness, it's hard for me to absorb myself into these characters because I've been there and it's hard for me to disassociate my personal beliefs from this story.

Director James Ponsoldt serves up what could be one of the better indie dramas of the summer however. As I wouldn't consider it much of a romance, though I'm sure most of the viewers and readers of the book would consider it so. There are a lot of poignant stories to be heard through the narration of Sutter in The Spectacular Now, and it does a great job at conveying the important messages that it's trying to send out. Ponsoldt also directed Smashed last year starring another one of Breaking Bad's stars in Aaron Paul as well as this movie's Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and it also dealt with the troubles caused by alcoholism. It also dealt the three-way relationship between two people, and alcohol as a third wheel, and I found it to be a lot more hard-hitting in the end than I did The Spectacular Now. It's also a great outing for Winstead in Smashed, as she's sometimes eerily too real as an alcoholic and leaps straight from the screen and into your heart. Where Smashed is the drama about alcoholism for adults in relationships, The Spectacular Now is the teen version of the same thing though it's rated R and written for teens as an original novel. After this film I wonder if alcoholism is an issue that Ponsoldt feels strongly about, or is directly affected by, but he definitely seems to have a grasp on the concept of friends, family and love in the bottom of a bottle. I'd be interested to see what Ponsoldt can deliver next in terms of drama, as The Spectular Now is definitely a drama of youth today and he easily shows that he has talent in the genre. Also, Miles Teller could be a promising young actor and maybe even has enough comedic edge to work his way into Hollywood for good. I would definitely like to see the continued success of Shailene Woodley, and it seems that 2014 could be an even bigger year for her with the release of Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars (which obviously, are both based off of teen fiction novels).

ACTING : ( 8 / 10 )

STORY : ( 7 / 10 )

EXECUTION : ( 6 / 10 )

POSTER : ( 8 / 10 )

AWESOME : ( 3 / 10 )

FINAL RATING : ( 7 / 10 )