Coming-of-age movies come in various sizes, shapes and sensibilities. They're usually predictable and often feel contrived. Neither of these is the case with "The Spectacular Now" (R, 1:35). Sutter (Miles Teller, in one of his first major roles) is a high school kid who doesn't take anything seriously - not his school work, not his job, not his future, not his relationships with other people, and not even himself. All that changes (gradually) when he becomes friends with the sweet loner Aimee (a pre-"Divergent" Shailene Woodley). Sutter struggles to get along with the single mother who's raising him (1980s' sweetheart Jennifer Jason Leigh), while wanting to get to know the dad (Kyle Chandler) who left when he was a child.
I've seen all four of the actors I just named in other movies, but all four of them showed me something fresh and new in this film and were all more effective than I've ever seen them before. If there were an Oscar for Best Ensemble, I'd say that this cast earned a nomination. As it stands, any one of the cast members is worthy of an individual Oscar nomination, as are screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael W. Weber (adapting Tim Tharp's novel) and the film's director, James Ponsoldt.
As Sutter and Aimee's unlikely relationship develops and they each take steps to seize their futures, the plot often appears to be heading in one direction, but then takes you in another. The realism of the performances, the authentic feel of the dialog and the unpredictability of the story combine to make you care deeply about these characters and feel a healthy tension about how things are going to turn out for them. "The Spectacular Now" is indeed spectacular and you should see it - now. I give it an "A+".
I've seen all four of the actors I just named in other movies, but all four of them showed me something fresh and new in this film and were all more effective than I've ever seen them before. If there were an Oscar for Best Ensemble, I'd say that this cast earned a nomination. As it stands, any one of the cast members is worthy of an individual Oscar nomination, as are screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael W. Weber (adapting Tim Tharp's novel) and the film's director, James Ponsoldt.
As Sutter and Aimee's unlikely relationship develops and they each take steps to seize their futures, the plot often appears to be heading in one direction, but then takes you in another. The realism of the performances, the authentic feel of the dialog and the unpredictability of the story combine to make you care deeply about these characters and feel a healthy tension about how things are going to turn out for them. "The Spectacular Now" is indeed spectacular and you should see it - now. I give it an "A+".