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The Spectacular Now
What starts as an unlikely romance becomes a sharp-eyed, straight-up snapshot of the heady confusion and haunting passion of youth - one that doesn't look for tidy truths. This is the tale of Sutter Keely, a high school senior and effortless charmer, and of how he unexpectedly falls in love with 'the good girl' Aimee Finecky.
21 May 1986, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA
5 June 1966, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
April1968, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
22 October 1962, Naperville, Illinois, USA
4 June 1972, Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany
24 December 1970, Plainfield, New Jersey, USA
5 February 1962, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
18 July 1968, Bronx, New York, USA
21 December 1996, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
June 19, 2016
There are scenes, moments, and dialogue in this film that ring so true that it all comes rushing back, a flood of memories and emotions and a little bit of pain.
August 18, 2014
James Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now is one of the uncommon pieces of teen cinema that rings true.
August 16, 2013
The film is engrossing all the way through, the sweetest, saddest, most humane movie I've seen all year.
April 08, 2014
t's a coming-of-age-slash-first-love story, with beguiling leads, a frank, bittersweet script, a lived-in, rustic setting (the outskirts of Athens, Georgia), an intense awareness of class difference and a mood that's all its own.
March 16, 2017
The Spectacular Now works because it insists on allowing these actors and characters to pull you in with their alarming emotional candor.
May 14, 2014
Every time the film teeters on the precipice of a generic plot point it satisfyingly withdraws into more subtle and nuanced territory that ultimately coalesces in a final act that is sentimental without being sugary.
August 23, 2013
This adaptation of Tim Tharp's novel, directed with delicate restraint by James Ponsoldt, sneaks up on you. It makes you laugh, then it breaks your heart.
April 17, 2016
An unusually evasive piece of filmmaking - hard to pin down, but all the more worthwhile for its craftiness.
August 16, 2013
So many films featuring teens seem overstimulated or familiar. This one strikes a deep, rich note and holds it.
August 23, 2013
Teller and Woodley hum together, and the movie does their performances justice.
August 23, 2013
[A] nuanced and unsentimental coming-of-age film.
August 22, 2013
This coming-of-age movie should appeal to smart, sensitive young people who haven't been exposed to the better examples of the genre.