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2013 Director: James Ponsoldt
2013 Director: James Ponsoldt
"I like to think people are about more than one thing."
Not a lot of films have the guts to take an honest difficult look at teen alcoholism. We get more party hearty teen films involving alcohol then anything else. The Spectacular Now is certainly taking a harder more stripped down approach to this subject. At many points it succeeds, but ultimately I think it lets its protagonist off the hook a bit. Maybe it doesn't let him off the hook, but we get a couple of situations that are in the film for conflict. In real life these situations would have criminal consequences but here they are swept to the side when they are no longer necessary to the narrative.
Sutter is the life of the party. He has a great girlfriend, and on the surface very little to concern himself with. After he gets dumped things begin to change for Sutter, or rather his deep rooted issues begin to bubble to the surface. He meets a new girl, Aimee (Woodley), who is not at all like the girls that he usually dates. At first it seems as though he feels sorry for her, but soon begins to develop true feelings for her. Because of her personality the audience, I believe, is meant to feel as though Aimee is going to make Sutter into the man he could be. The Spectacular Now does not go the traditional route however. The characters have an effect on each other, good and bad. Throughout the film we see them influence each other, not just the good of one rubbing out the bad. This is where I feel like this film succeeds where others fail. It is willing to take an honest look at how we change each other where other films of this nature would just choose the traditional path to redemption.
Everything does not come up roses for this coming of age tale however.
The Spectacular Now is hampered by a ho-hum script and wooden acting. I did have a moment when I thought that maybe the acting was less than because of the script or direction, I liked Woodley in The Descendants after all. That thought was quickly laid to rest, however, when Kyle Chandler shows up as Sutter's father. Chandler knocks it out of the park the couple of short scenes he is in. Unfortunately that left me feeling unfulfilled for what the rest of the film could have been.
The Spectacular Now is a nice film and worth the time. I think it will be forgettable though. Which is unfortunate because the potential for greatness was there.
Not a lot of films have the guts to take an honest difficult look at teen alcoholism. We get more party hearty teen films involving alcohol then anything else. The Spectacular Now is certainly taking a harder more stripped down approach to this subject. At many points it succeeds, but ultimately I think it lets its protagonist off the hook a bit. Maybe it doesn't let him off the hook, but we get a couple of situations that are in the film for conflict. In real life these situations would have criminal consequences but here they are swept to the side when they are no longer necessary to the narrative.
Sutter is the life of the party. He has a great girlfriend, and on the surface very little to concern himself with. After he gets dumped things begin to change for Sutter, or rather his deep rooted issues begin to bubble to the surface. He meets a new girl, Aimee (Woodley), who is not at all like the girls that he usually dates. At first it seems as though he feels sorry for her, but soon begins to develop true feelings for her. Because of her personality the audience, I believe, is meant to feel as though Aimee is going to make Sutter into the man he could be. The Spectacular Now does not go the traditional route however. The characters have an effect on each other, good and bad. Throughout the film we see them influence each other, not just the good of one rubbing out the bad. This is where I feel like this film succeeds where others fail. It is willing to take an honest look at how we change each other where other films of this nature would just choose the traditional path to redemption.
Everything does not come up roses for this coming of age tale however.
The Spectacular Now is hampered by a ho-hum script and wooden acting. I did have a moment when I thought that maybe the acting was less than because of the script or direction, I liked Woodley in The Descendants after all. That thought was quickly laid to rest, however, when Kyle Chandler shows up as Sutter's father. Chandler knocks it out of the park the couple of short scenes he is in. Unfortunately that left me feeling unfulfilled for what the rest of the film could have been.
The Spectacular Now is a nice film and worth the time. I think it will be forgettable though. Which is unfortunate because the potential for greatness was there.