The Spectacular Now - Loss, gain, and growth in suburban America

November 25, 2024.

Rating: 3/5

The 2013 movie The Spectacular Now starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley is a terrific romantic story of two high-school seniors* who push each other to take charge of their own lives.

The Spectacular Now is absolutely worth watching. It's so good it's even worth renting if it's not available for free on your streaming service.

Teller plays Sutter Keely, a seemingly carefree happy-go-lucky kid who drinks too much and lives in the moment with no regard for or interest in what comes next. The movie's framing device is Keely's attempt to answer the college-admission hardship sob-story question that college applicants in the U.S. must submit in order to prove themselves worthy of experiencing academia.

After losing his girlfriend Cassidy - superficially due to a misunderstanding but in reality because of his deeper personality flaws - he is approached by Aimee Finicky, a classmate he doesn't recognize because she is too dorky to be in his otherwise wide-ranging social circle. Aimee certainly knows who Keely is. It turns out that they have something to offer each other, even as Keely schemes to win back Cassidy.

Teller does a great job of keeping Keely a slippery character. Is he a good guy? Is he selfish? Is he naively trusting? Why does he work so hard to manipulate his environment in spite of having no obvious goal?

Woodley more than holds her own in portraying the initially awkward Aimee growing increasingly confident and self reliant. She does not accept simply being his rebound and compels him to face his demons.

Brie Larson (playing Cassidy), Kyle Chandler (as Keely's dad), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Keely's sister Holly) add performances that fill in the blanks surrounding Keely.

The Spectacular Now was director James Ponsoldt's third feature-length movie.

The Spectacular Now can be considered a notably conservative movie that emphasizes the importance of commitment, responsibility, accountability, and moderation.

*Teller was 26 and Woodley 21 when the movie was filmed.