Synopsis
Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.
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Cast
- Miles TellerSutter Keely
- Shailene WoodleyAimee Finecky
- Masam HoldenRicky Mehlinger
- Kaitlyn DeverKrystal Krittenbrink
- Brie LarsonCassidy Roy
- Kyle ChandlerTommy Keely
- Jennifer Jason LeighSara Keely
- Mary Elizabeth WinsteadHolly Keely
- Karen StrassmanAdditional Voices (voice)
- Andre RoyoMr. Aster
Recommendations
- 90
Variety
Skillfully adapted from Tim Tharp's novel, evocatively lensed in the working-class neighborhoods of Athens, Ga., and tenderly acted by Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley, this bittersweet ode to the moment of childhood's end builds quietly to a pitch-perfect finale. - 90
Village Voice
Director James Ponsoldt gives us long, loose, single-shot courtship scenes, each a marvel of staging and performance. - 88
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Witty, warm and wistful and in just the right proportions, Spectacular is the best-acted film of the summer. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Ordinary in some ways and extraordinary in others, The Spectacular Now benefits from an exceptional feel for its main characters on the parts of the director and lead actors. - 80
The Guardian
Ponsoldt elicits remarkably strong performances from his two young leads, who display a depth of feeling that's breathtaking in its simplicity and honest. There's an inherent chemistry here that's both disarming and refreshing. - 80
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Most teen movies are cocktails of melancholy and elation. This one is best at its most un-transcendent —when it most evokes that period when we never knew what we were supposed to do with the pain. - 80
The New Yorker
The Spectacular Now goes a little soft at the end, but most of it has the melancholy sense of life just passing by — until, that is, someone has the courage to grab it and make it take some meaning and form. - 80
Time Out
Nothing about The Spectacular Now feels easy or After-School Special, although it tidies up too much (the personal essay should be retired as a device).
