Film Review: The Spectacular Now

Two weekends ago I decided to have a little movie date with myself to see the new Shailene Woodley film, The Spectacular Now. I had seen the previews and I was in the mood for a tear-jerker-which, by the trailers, it seemed like this one would be-so I drove to Shadowwood Regal Cinemas on West Glades and watched the indie-drama for the first time.
Fortunately I don’t feel like I wasted a penny that day. The film opened up with Miles Teller who plays “Sutter” a smug, self-assured alcoholic in his “party days” a few weeks before high school comes to an end.
Sutter meets soft-spoken Amy, played by Shailene Woodley, in the midst of a hasty break-up and he quickly befriends her.
As Sutter and Amy’s friendship grows, the viewer can see the way each of their personalities start to morph together. Amy becomes a much more resilient person and gradually begins to pick up some of Sutter’s bad habits whereas Sutter begins to look at things from a different perspective.
Something I enjoyed about the characters in this film was how quickly you are able to get inside their head.
We get a background perspective on each of their home lives, therefore bear in mind Sutter’s disappearing father and Amy’s pestering mother throughout the movie as we watch their emotions shift and their bond develop and break.
It was realistic and not predictable in that cliché way romantic dramas tend to be.
The film reflects on an assortment of issues from alcoholism* to the harrowing reality of certain relationships to our outlooks about the future-whether we are striving toward a better life or living in a Spectacular Now.

*If you struggle with alcoholism yourself, you may find this a difficult watch. It would be advisable to try and overcome your problems so that you can live a healthy and happy life. You can visit https://enterhealth.com/ for support with this issue, should you need it.