The Spectacular NOW(2013 - August 2) [Limited]
Comedy | Drama | Romance
1 hr 35 min
Rated: R Strong language throughout including frequent use of F*** and its variations, drinking alcohol by adults and teens, drinking at high school and at school events, driving while drunk and teens engaging in sex. Common Sense Media says OK for kids 16+. More on child suitability
Grade: C-
Director: James Ponsoldt
Writers: Scott Neustadter (screenplay), Michael H. Weber (screenplay), Tim Tharp (novel)
Stars: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Kyle Chandler | See full cast and crew
With
sly humor and an intensity of feeling, THE SPECTACULAR NOW (directed by
James Ponsoldt) creates a vivid, three-dimensional portrait of youth
confronting the funny, thrilling and perilous business of modern love
and adulthood. This is the tale of Sutter Keely (Miles Teller), a high
school senior and effortless charmer, and of how he unexpectedly falls
in love with "the good girl" Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley). What
starts as an unlikely romance becomes a sharp-eyed, straight-up snapshot
of the heady confusion and haunting passion of youth - one that doesn't
look for tidy truths. The film was written by Scott Neustadter and
Michael Weber (500) DAYS OF SUMMER and also features wonderful
supporting turns from Brie Larson, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Jason Leigh,
and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
The critics like this one so you know what that means...I nearly walked out on this one.
The promos say he falls in love with 'the good girl'. Not in my book. On the first date he has her drinking whiskey from a flask and he teaches her to stand up to her mother by using profanity i.e., 'Get off my M-----F---in' back, mom!', and by the third date they are having sex with condoms she supplies. Not quite what I would describe as a 'good girl'.
Everyone is supposedly 18 and in high school but as usual they have cast actors in their 20s and 30s. They all drink openly at school, at parties, school dances, at work, at bars. Driving while drinking is more humorous than a serious problem. They are all sexually active. They all use profanity, liberally. Religion, we've evolved too much to believe in any of that. Traditional family values, backward and repressive, over rated and unobtainable anyway. These kids would be a nightmare to any reasonable parent, but then these are not reasonable parents either. There is no one in this film that is likeable. The philosophy of hedonism and moral equivalency is rampant, or in other words there is no such thing as morality.
In the end the loser alcoholic 18 year old 'hero' has seen the light and is pledging to turn his life around and you know it's never going to happen. I hate movies like this that tell teens this type of behavior is cool and the way to be popular, and that in the end just like in a 30 minuet sit-com, when it starts to crash in on top of you, all the bad behavior all the damage all the bad habits can be dropped by simply saying I'm going to change. A fairy-tale 'do over' ending. Yeah, right. I can't in good conscience recommend this film.
Cast
Sutter Aimee
Ex girlfriend / Cassidy Dad / Tommy Mom / Sara
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