Brandon’s review published on Letterboxd:
Right off the bat, I was interested in this film. Michael Weber is credited with writing the screenplay for this, and he happens to have written one of my favorite films in (500) Days of Summer. The idea is similar to that of (500) Days of Summer, and the way it goes about it is very similar.
Sutter (Miles Teller) is living the dream: he's one of the more popular kids in high school and is dubbed as "the life of the party", along with his girlfriend Cassidy (Brie Larson). When the two break up, Sutter has a rough night and wakes up in the front yard of Aimee (Shailene Woodley), a fellow classmate whom he has never encountered. Immediately a connection sparks, and the unlikely duo begin to fall for another. Along the path, the two are faced with both internal and external struggles that may cause some bumps in their relationship. The story explores some of these personal struggles that they face and encourage us to find ourselves. To live in the NOW.
What I really enjoyed about the film is its ability to capture moments as if they were real. So much of this film can be related to in real life. We have a young, adolescent male who is ruining his life by not caring about school and is too worried about partying. He lives with his mother in a divorced family with no contact with his father, until he learns that he is a heartless drunk. We have a young man who is trying to discover his inner self, but is hurting people through the process. It's such a realistic film and I really enjoyed that.
Overall, it's acted pretty well. We have Miles Teller as Sutter, and he brings life into this romantic comedy. We have Shailene Woodley who does a fantastic job at portraying an adolescent girl who has never been in love that is slowly, but nervously, falling for her first love. Finally we have Brie Larson, who again does a really nice job. (she's quietly becoming a fine young actress). Also was good to see Mary Elizabeth Winstead in a supporting role.
The Spectacular Now will be an emotional roller coaster for many. It has a lot of ups and downs and even has some really unexpected twists. It's lighthearted and provides plenty of laughs to balance out the drama. It has a good moral story about discovering yourself and figuring out how to deal with challenges you face. I'll definitely check back to this in the future.