The Spectacular Now
Director: James Ponsoldt
Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Kyle Chandler.
Rated R for alcohol use, language, and some sexuality - all involving teens.
The writers of the wildly original (500) Days of Summer are back again to tell a younger and more serious love story in The Spectacular Now. Though the originality of (500) Days is lacking in this script, what sets this coming-of-age love story apart from the hordes of others is the honesty that these fully realized characters bring to the screen.
Sutter (Miles Teller) is a high school senior who lives from party to party and is a heavy drinker, having been given alcohol as a child by his now absent father (Kyle Chandler). Everyone is telling Sutter that he needs to take himself more seriously and prepare for adulthood, but Sutter shares his father's philosophy that nothing is better than living in the moment. After being dumped by his girlfriend (Brie Larson), Sutter finds himself passed out drunk until he is encountered by Amy (Shailene Woodley). Sutter and Amy are from different crowds, but they find that they are not all that different from each other and soon start to fall in love. But how long can Sutter keep Amy when his demons come out from deep within?
Miles Teller has excelled at playing the goof off party boy as seen in The Hangover wannabe, 21 and Over. His character here, Sutter, is not too different, except that underneath the guy who lives in the now are demons that are screaming to come to the surface. He buries these demons deep down by partying too hard until he can no longer contain them, and all his fears and insecurities explode. It's a moving performance from Teller, especially in the final act of the film. I've never seen The Secret Life of the American Teenager, but I first saw Shailene Woodley in The Descendents alongside George Clooney and her performance blew me away. She continues to show her strengths here and is a natural on camera. Next year she will show if she can translate her indie success to blockbuster status with the highly anticipated film adaptation of the best-selling novel Divergent.
Though this film is a drama, I would have liked to have seen some lighter moments. It occasionally takes itself too seriously, yet sometimes unrealistically so. It is slower paced and would have been better off by cutting its running time by 10 or 15 minutes. However, what makes this film a good one is the fact that it's led by two rising stars who have enormous talent.
RATING: B+
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