The Spectacular Now review

Riley:

And here comes a movie that reminds me why they are made in the first place.

But first, a disclaimer. I have had a long, fruitful conversation with Adam about movie reviews and criticism and I know how I feel about them. I can discuss a movie out loud and in person better than I can write about one. Yet here I am, so I’ll keep it as short and sweet as I can. I’ll try to not speak too much about the content of the story, as far too many film critics do (cough cough, those at The New Yorker), often oversharing elements of it that movie-goers just have to go and experience themselves. Anyways, now, “The Spectacular Now.”

To begin, here is a plot summary I snagged from its IMDb page:

“Sutter Keely lives in the now. It's a good place for him. A high school senior, charming and self-possessed, he's the life of the party, loves his job at a men's clothing store, and has no plans for the future. A budding alcoholic, he's never far from his supersized, whiskey-fortified thirst-master cup. But after being dumped by his girlfriend, Sutter gets drunk and wakes up on a lawn with Aimee Finicky hovering over him. She's different: the "nice girl" who reads science fiction and doesn't have a boyfriend. While Amy has dreams of a future, Sutter lives in the impressive delusion of a spectacular now, yet somehow, they're drawn together.”

“The Spectacular Now” propelled me into the stars with its breathless introduction and it kept me suspended there over the course of its running time. It was during the final eight minutes - plus the brilliant choice of music as the ending credits appear - that I felt like I was thrown to the moon. Most of you will possibly react differently to the film, as there is such a wide variety of things to relate to. Nonetheless, I would be very interested in talking with you if by the closing credits you weren’t wiping your eyes or feeling some sort of emotional weight in the pit of your stomach or in the trenches of your heart.

Sutter Keely (played so damn well by Miles Teller) could perhaps be my favorite movie character of the year thus far. I have never responded to a character like his before; obnoxious, thoughtful, reliant on alcohol, warm, genuine, loud, sensitive. He’s incredibly well-rounded for a young male lead in a coming-of-age tale. The film itself features a roster of characters that could so easily be mishandled and have been mishandled in other films of the same nature. Every character in “Spectacular” has been a caricature elsewhere; party-girl ex, jock football player, preppy older sister, bookish girl, etc. But here, they are given the rare chance to individually breathe in their own shoes. And in doing so, everyone feels sympathetic, understandable, recognizable. Early on, Sutter asks Aimee Finicky (played with equal ferocity by Shailene Woodley) what single characteristic defines her. Aimee responds to his question by posing one of her own: Why do we have to be defined by a single characteristic? As the movie suggests, we’re all so deeply full of a multitude of personality traits, emotions, aspirations, and ideas, and we’re constantly changing our minds, adapting to unexpected revelations and dreaming new dreams that a single word simply does not justly define us.

This is a movie with a big heart. I love movies with big hearts. Cynicism can be fun and thought-provoking in certain cases, but nothing speaks louder than a story that celebrates the goodness in the world or the powers of optimism, respect and encouragement. “The Spectacular Now” frequently resists the temptation of predictability and dishonesty. I am reminded of a scene that first appears like it will be headed in one direction - a fight. Instead, the words that the characters consciously choose to exchange move the scene in the entirely opposite direction. And the implication of Sutter’s reliance on booze refreshingly avoids a trite moral conclusion. That’s not what this film is about.

There are shades of “Good Will Hunting” throughout, including what appears to be a brief homage towards the end as we watch a car drive down a highway. Saying anything more would spoil the fun. “The Spectacular Now” is not without its flaws, but I’ll leave those up to you to determine on your own.

*For those of you interested in a more expansive examination of “The Spectacular Now”, I’m going to go against my disclaimer and direct you to the late, great Roger Ebert’s review - one of his sweetest, and one of his last.

Link:

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-spectacular-now-2013