The Spectacular Now (2013)

Featuring two rising stars in Miles Teller (“Rabbit Hole”) and Shailene Woodley (“The Descendants”), this film nicely melds a rough exterior with a heartfelt core to great effect.

Sutter (Teller) is a guy who parties hard, drinks incessantly and has a long term relationship with a beautiful girl named Cassidy (Brie Larson). He is the self-proclaimed life of the party and people like him, but no one takes him too seriously. At home he lives with his mom, has no idea where his dad is and hardly ever talks with his older sister. School, much less Geometry, is of little importance to him.

Matters take a turn for the worse when he and his girlfriend have a fight. He drives home plastered one night, only to wake up the next morning on a front lawn with a girl standing over him. And that is how he meets the quiet, studious, Aimee Finicky (Woodley). They strike up a friendship instantly as he helps her with a paper route, and she soon begins helping him with math. Although he convinces himself that he is doing it just because she is nice, he genuinely begins to like her. He invites her to a party and there their relationship deepens. It comes out that she is planning to stand up to her mom so she can go to university in Philadelphia. And she wants Sutter to ask his mom about his estranged father. Together the two of them go to visit his dad and Sutter is devastated to find out the truth about his father which he never wanted to believe. On the drive home, half intoxicated by alcohol, half by his anguish, Sutter rejects Aimee’s love and tells her to leave, with dire consequences.

High school winds down and so does Sutter’s job. The night Aimee leaves for Philadelphia, however he gets inebriated in a bar not wanting to hurt her anymore. He returns home in a stupor and confronts his mom, but he breaks down believing that he is exactly like his father. Despite all the annoyance that had been there before, she comforts him and proves Sutter otherwise.

Finally, Sutter is able to realize that his limitation is himself, because even though he might veil his fears with jokes and alcohol, he has always been afraid. He takes another trip in his car, this time to Philadelphia to see Aimee again. The film ends on the steps of the university as their gazes meet and Aimee is just about to react. Who knows how it ends but much like “Say Anything…” we can believe what we want. Needless to say, though he wasted so many of the previous “Nows” Sutter seems destined to make the best of his tomorrow. 

This film is engrossing because although we have seen the story before no doubt, it is made fresh by the leads. A lot of people know someone like Sutter Keely. He is a person who is rough around the edges because of family, divorce, and alcohol. He often makes the stupidest of decisions. But there is still something about him that is likable and it creates empathy. Aimee on her part could be a real individual as well. She can be shy but she is sweet and beautiful in her own unique way. However, because they are messy and have faults, it makes these two all the more believable. Neither of them can be labeled as a one dimensional cliché because they have a genuine human quality. As Aimee would say they are not just defined by one thing, there's more to them than that.

Some of the best moments in the film have to be when the two leads are talking with each other. It seems so real and even commonplace the way they go through conversations, but it is wonderful to watch. First, it begins awkwardly, builds into a friendship, and finally evolves into a full-fledged relationship. These chats that they share not only cause them to grow closer but it causes the audience to grow closer to them. I will admit I was in shock during the climax of the film and I also dreaded the times Sutter drove home obviously drunk. That shows an actual attachment to the characters that is not always present in this type of film or any film for that matter. 

For a split instant I was disappointed that the film ended where it did, but then I quickly realized that's how it had to be and it is better for it. Already I cannot wait for more from Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley especially. She is one of the most promising actresses of today along with Jennifer Lawrence. 

4.5/5 Stars