Teen comedies became a genre after John Hughes defined it back in the 1980s. Since then, there have been many attempts to capture the combination of child and adult that movies like Sixteen Candles excelled at. The Spectacular Now is one of the better entries in the genre because it never condescends or veers too much into melodrama. Anchored by strong lead performances by Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller, The Spectacular Now tells a story that will generate a relatable moment for nearly every audience member, a ubiquitous trait of every good coming of age story.
We all knew a guy like Sutter (Miles Teller) in high school. He was the ultimate carpe diem savant: a smooth talking life of the party who connects with most of the people he encounters. After a long night of partying, he wakes up in the front yard of someone’s house while Aimee Finicky (Shailene Woodley) is on her mother’s paper route. With nothing to do, Sutter rides with Aimee to finish the route, thus beginning their will they won’t they relationship. As they get to know each other, the pair confronts aspects of their life they were unwilling to face alone.
Okay, first the minor quibbles. There are a couple of scenes in the movie that occur later on that feel like studio edits, one involving a car fight is so unexpected that it kind of works, but it still feels unnecessary. Also, even though Aimee is clearly a strong-willed girl, when it comes to Sutter she fails to call him out early on when she is being used which stretches credulity as it is repeated a couple of times.
The strength of the Spectacular Now is its grounding. Sutter and Aimee are real people, and any scene involving the two of them feels pulled from day-to-day living. That doesn’t mean the scenes lack dynamism: quite the opposite in fact. The first intimate scene between the two plays out in a very logical way, but it also has power because the connection between Sutter and Aimee has been cutely developed; they are ready for this step. It is also nice to see that Aimee doesn’t suddenly become the queen bee of the school; she dresses nicer and goes out in public more, but she is every bit her core self with a little more self-confidence from her high-profile relationship.
The success of The Spectacular Now hinges on Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley. We have to believe they could be together, that they interest/challenge one another, and that their chemistry is not forced by the story. Woodley’s strengths are the subtle movement of a hand or her head to convey how she is feeling. She makes Aimee sure of who she is with hints of issues eating at her: a success not many actresses can replicate. The big star here is Miles Teller, who is channeling a young Vince Vaughn with his fast talking charisma. Teller makes it easy to believe why people like to be with him, but he also generates some moment of heartbreak with his facial tics or the way his voice changes when he says something. Teller and Woodley are great together as well, with a rat-at-at that feels like high school: small talk that leads to heartfelt connection. Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead do solid supporting work as people caught in Sutter’s tailspin; each is given enough complexity to justify their role in the movie. Kyle Chandler plays against type here as a warning sign for Sutter’s future trajectory; for the most part he is good, if a little too honest right away.
The Spectacular Now may be imperfect, but so is adolescence. The mistakes the story makes can not deter its essence, which is a simple beautiful love story about two people who use each other to try to better their lives. Those themes are resonant and relatable thanks to the gifted work of Teller and Woodley; here’s hoping we see more of them together.