The Spectacular Now, 2013.
Directed by James Ponsoldt.
Starring Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Kyle Chandler, Brie Larson, Masam Holden, Dayo Okeniyi, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
SYNOPSIS:
The coming-of-age story of a hard-partying high school senior and how his philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical ‘nice girl’.
As soon as I read this synopsis, my heart sank a little. All I could think was that this would be yet another mediocre coming-of-age story where we get to see how one or two moments dramatically change a person’s behaviour and then how he gets the girl of his dreams. However, not only was I pleasantly surprised, I can quite happily say that this is quite easily the best example of this genre that I have ever seen.
The story starts with Sutter (Miles Teller) being unceremoniously dumped due to a slight misunderstanding. Rather than wallow in self-loathing, he decides to go on a big night out to enjoy himself and clear his head. He is awoken on a stranger’s lawn by Aimee (Shailene Woodley), a girl from school he doesn’t know and from there the story really begins.
A simple enough set up that leaves you wondering how this film could be any different from the multitude of others in this genre. What sets this film apart isn’t the plot though; it’s the interaction between each of the characters.
From the offset, the film manages to portray each character in a completely honest and believable way that is unlike many other films of this nature. Using a blend of natural-sounding humour and half-improvised dialogue, the story flows along smoothly from start to finish. It does this without forcing its agenda on you at any point – managing to avoid the familiar saccharine territory that I initially feared.
Sutter himself is not your typical lead character in any way. A borderline alcoholic, he makes very few meaningful connections in life and only lives for the moment, thinking very little of the consequences of his actions and making sure not to plan for the future.
While this may make Sutter sound like an incredibly selfish and unlikeable person, you couldn’t be more wrong. He has such charisma that you happily overlook his imperfections and find yourself hoping that he can sort himself out and find a bit of direction in his life – something that I never thought I would say in a review.
He’s not the only one with flaws though. Every character on screen has flaws whether it’s the interfering best friend, a somewhat casual mother or an incredibly shallow sister – something that you may think would just annoy you but ends up just making you feel much more connected to everyone on screen, mainly due to the fact that you can relate and empathise with everyone and their opinions.
Further to the excellent characterisations is the beautifully simplistic direction. Using a combination of quick cuts, tracking shots and superbly framed environments, the director manages to keep the story rolling along at a gentle pace without ever distracting you by being too extravagant.
I could further gush over this film and go into great length about why certain scenes are so truly wonderful and how each character is flawlessly developed, but to do so would spoil the film for you.
All I can say is that this film manages to skilfully capture the exact feelings a young person experiences when leaving school to go off to college. It’s a perfect blend of youthful exuberance and the heartache that teenagers often end up experiencing – even to the point where even the most hardened of film lover may well up a little. Other pictures have so often attempted to show us that combination of excitement, confusion and fear of the unknown and almost always fell short – something which this film and all its participants should be very proud of.
The only minor criticism you could have is that the story is a little formulaic at times but fortunately the story is so well crafted that it completely covers up any small issues you may have.
Simply put, I can honestly say that a coming-of-age tale has never been more natural and has never left me feeling as emotionally satisfied as The Spectacular Now.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Ozzy Armstrong is a Stargate and Rocky superfan. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published October 8, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
