THE SPECTACULAR NOW – The Review

Well Summer’s almost over and the more serious film fare is starting to arrive at the cinemas. But it’s not quite time to give the theatres completely over to adult fare. As a matter of fact, adulthood is one of the subjects tackled in this new film. To be more specific, it concerns high school, or more specifically the end of high school, often referred to as “entering the real world”. One young man’s journey there is at the heart of this film, so I guess it could be part of the “coming of age” genre. We’re seen that with last year’s terrific THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER and the very recent THE WAY WAY BACK. But at the start of those two films, the protagonists are shy, awkward, outcasts while the main focus of this new film is the opposite. In earlier years he would have been referred to as a BMOC (Big Man On Campus), one of the popular crowd. That’s the main reason he truly relishes THE SPECTACULAR NOW.

That king of the high school crowd, down in a sleepy Georgia burg, is Sutter Keely (Miles Teller). But as the film begins, his life has hit a little speed bump. He’s loved by his hard-working single mom (Jennifer Jason Leigh), still close to his married sister (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), has a part-time job selling menswear for a cool boss (Bob Odenkirk), and cruises through most of his classes (math’s a killer!). But a misunderstanding has caused golden girl Cassidy (Brie Larson) to break up with him. And these college entrance essays are a pain (he still doesn’t have any real future plans). After failing to patch things up with Cass, Sutter barhops all night and wakes up the next morning on the front lawn of Aimee Fineky (Shailene Woodley). She’s a  junior class brainiac (a Philidelphia college has already accepted her) anime geek who’s really not a part of the popular crowd. After helping her with her mother’s newspaper route (Mom  also may have hit some bars last night ) the two strike up a friendship and eventually (to their friends’ shock) begin dating. They make a pack to encourage each other with their mothers. Sutter tells Aimee to not cave-in to her mom’s wishes about her staying home and not heading to Philly. Aimee pushes Sutter to confront his mother and get the current address of his long-absent father. But his search for the truth sends Sutter down a dark path and may destroy his blossoming love with the kind, caring Aimee.

The excellent cast makes this film truly spectacular anchored by the superb break-out performance of Teller. He was certainly the best part of the recent remake of FOOTLOOSE and here he displays all of his acting skills as the campus “good” guy. Sutter shows the world a mask that hides his insecurities and deflects any questions that are too personal. His chance meeting with Aimee leads to his removing that mask and really connecting honestly with another person. Buried deep within him is that sad boy rejected by his dad. Sutter’s love for Aimee (hey, he even reads some manga!) releases his feelings. It will be interesting to see the film choices that lie ahead for this gifted young actor. Fortunately he’s matched by the equally wonderful Woodley. Her superb breakthrough role in THE DESCENDANTS gave us just a taste of her on-screen talents. We can certainly understand why Sutter falls so hard for her. Aimee’s not appreciated at home or at school. Woodley shows her breaking out of her shell and finally realizing what a beautiful, exceptional person she is. When she experience her first love, she shows us that exhilaration. And later, the heartbreak as Sutter tries to push her away after he reveals too much. Kudos also to Larson who could have made Sutter’s ex into another high school “mean girl”. We think she may be taunting Sutter by sending instant online messages to him after she is seeing someone else. But Larson shows us her real concern about him. She knows they can’t be a couple, but that doesn’t stop her from caring about him.

There’s also great work from the more established adult actors here. Kyle Chandler shows us a side beyond the usual nice guy roles (SUPER 8) in a pivotal part of the film’s finale’. Winstead is a warm, understanding big sister who will always help her family despite her new affluent life. Sutter’s got a couple of great father figures at school with Andre Royo as his tough but caring math teacher and Odenkirk as a supportive, but very aware shop owner. And how great is it that the producers cast one of the stars of a true high school movie classic, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH,  the wonderful Jennifer Jason Leigh as Sutter’s’ determined mom. Like most of the town, she is charmed by Sutter. But she still pushes him to apply himself as she tries to shelter him from some of life’s ugly truths.

As the film progressed I was concerned that the use of alcohol was not being properly addressed. Happily my concerns were put to rest in the film’s final scenes. And no wonder! NOW was expertly directed by James Ponsoldt the same man who made last year’s superb study of a twenty-something alcoholic SMASHED that also featured Ms. Winstead (who should have taken home the Oscar gold!). With this film Ponsoldt gives us a tender tale of young love that lifts the story away from a cautionary”after school special” cliche’.Yes, there are the big emotional moments, but everything moves in a most natural manner. We get that languid tone of those warm. last hazy days of school as the students all brace for the big change. The big story points take unexpected turns including the last few seconds. Like life, not everything in the film gets tied up in a pretty pink bow before the final fade-out. Some of the characters are pointed toward the right direction, but we know that a lot of work lies ahead. And the pain inflected by past actions will take time to heal. In its own quiet way THE SPECTACULAR NOW does indeed live up to the title’s adjective. It’s a work that is one of the year’s very best films.

5 Out of 5

THE SPECTACULAR NOW screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas