Rating of
3.5/4
Almost Spectacular
Unknown - wrote on 09/20/13
Here is one high school age drama that feels realistic in it's character's personalities, their romantic relationship, and their emotions. I found many aspects of this film to be relatable, mostly from Teller's character. He and Woodley share many genuine scenes together. The believability in their performances is amplified as they become closer to one another. These are the high points of the film. The emotions are just as strong in scenes involving Sutter's other personal and family problems, as well. The film does good to steer clear of genre conventions and cliches. However, there are a couple of scenes that I felt were completely unnecessary to the story and they diminish some of the emotion generated moments before. But in no way do they come close to ruining the film. The ending puts them to rest by being a perfect coda to the emotional confusion laden throughout. 'The Spectacular Now' is one terrific teen drama overall. I came out just shy of loving it.
