The Spectacular Now (2013)

Directed by: James Ponsoldt
Written by: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Starring: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley
Rated: R

Watching "The Spectacular Now" was something of a small revelation for me. Who knew that the coming of age, teenage romp story still had some life left in it? And not just some life, but a beautiful swelling of uncolored emotion. Finally, a film that doesn't treat teenagers like as half-formed people, but rather as fully formed beings transitioning into accountable members of society. I left the theatre with these words rolling around in my head: that was a solid little movie.

Sitting before a keyboard, sipping some unknown potion from a Big Gulp cup, Sutter (Miles Teller) rolls around what to write for his college application essay. It asks him to describe a period of adversity, how he overcame it, and what he learned from the experience. After some thoughtful, moderately drunk moments Sutter describes the end of his relationship with "fucking" awesome girlfriend, Cassidy (Brie Larson). It's an obvious, odious, 18-year-old sex and booze-fueled lusty affair with no sort of real emotion, but that's what he knows. He's a teenage alcoholic, a partier and a joke. That essay is the end of a chapter of his life.

A night of bar hopping leaves a blacked out Sutter on a random lawn to be discovered by Aimee (Shailene Woodley), the quiet good girl who of course isn't right for Sutter, but somehow she is. Rediscovering those long forgotten, pubescent roads hopefully never to be walked again, the movie steers us through those hardest times when "graduation", "virginity", "prom", "parents", "future" were words that held very real and very frightening connotations for us. The yin to his yang, Aimee and Sutter push and pull each other towards an equilibrium in which they can be happy with themselves and each other.

Teller and Woodley deliver surprisingly real and affectionate performances that strip away that shiny tint that seems perpetually painted on movies that deal with the issues of high schoolers. It's an awkward relationship, full of more than casual glances. Sutter is as charismatic as they come, a defense mechanism that we can only assume was acquired from a fear of rejection and failure. He shoots himself down and dotes on others before he himself can become a target of others. She attends French Club and her heroine is a figure from an anime series. She guards herself out of an obligation to her family. To each other though, they are safe.

When you parry it down the plot sounds hackneyed and cliched --the party boy and the loner girl who find solace in each other, but a script by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber should alleviate fears of commonplace ideas. After their triumphant "500 Days of Summer" there is no question that the two writers know how to pen conventional stories in a way that is both unconventional and honest. I didn't once watch Sutter and Aimee's romance blossom and think it was forced or contrived for the sake of making an audience happy. The film breathes and resonates because it's relatable. Sutter is not especially handsome and he wins people over with his smooth talking charm, so why couldn't he and Aimee be together? He calls her beautiful and he's absolutely right.

The film's strength is in its raw and sympathetic characters and in the fact that it doesn't feel the need to throw glitter in the eyes of the viewer. The ending hits you like a sucker punch because it has taken the time to create damaged roles for talented actors who are given free reign to explore and expand the identifiable troubles of their relationship. What Aimee and Sutter have may or may not be true love, but the end result isn't the point. The point is the process and "The Spectacular Now" drives it home.

3.5/4