The Spectacular Now – ABC Film Challenge – 2010’s Movies – T – The Spectacular Now – Movie Review
Director: James Ponsoldt
Writer: Scott Neustadter, Michael H Weber (Screenplay)
Writer: Tim Tharp (Novel)
Cast
- Miles Teller (Top Gun Maverick)
- Shailene Woodley (The Fault in Our Stars)
- Kyle Chandler (Argo)
- Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Possessor)
- Brie Larson (Room)
Plot: A hard-partying high school senior’s philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical “nice girl.”
Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Spectacular Now starts as party animal high school student Sutter (Teller) is struggling with his college application. He breaks up with his girlfriend Cassidy (Larson) before meeting a different girl from his school Aimee (Woodley).
The two start a relationship that helps Sutter see the world from a different point of view. As he prepares for the next stage of his life, leading him to need to make a big decision about his own future.
Verdict on The Spectacular Now
The Spectacular Now is a coming-of-age tale for a high school student unsure about his own future. He starts to change whom he sees and hangs around leading him down a different path in his life.
In the teen coming-of-age tales, we are used to seeing a character needing to learn about life. One that he isn’t prepared for, something many teenagers would struggle with at this stage in life. It doesn’t bring at much fresh to the ideas, doing everything it needs to do right along the way. Most of the movie becomes largely forgettable by the end, without it being bad, just done before. The performances are good through the film, with a strong cast that have gone onto bigger and better things.
Final Thoughts – The Spectacular Now is a by the book teenage coming-of-age tale.
