Word placement is everything. The Spectacular Now is not a teen movie. The Spectacular Now is a movie about a teenager on the threshold of adulthood. Miles Teller plays The Spectacular Now’s central character. Teller’s character is typical in many ways. His girlfriend just broke up with him. He likes to party. He is applying to college and attending school, but in a purely perfunctory way. Unlike many teenagers, Teller’s character is really struggling with the person that he thinks he is because of his actions and his past and the person that he could be or perhaps already is during his unguarded interactions with others. Unlike many people with self-destructive inclinations, he is honest with himself instead of pretending that everything is fine. The Spectacular Now is the kind of movie that you want to keep going so you can find out if all the characters are doing all right.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Teller’s character is a complete alcoholic. He is functional, but beginning to black out and have accidents. Fortunately he is not an angry drunk and can be quite encouraging and friendly during personal interactions with his boss, his teacher, his ex’s new boyfriend. He has a conscience. He is not an unmitigated piece of shit, which is why The Spectacular Now works. Teller’s character is only deliberately mean to one person, his mother, whom he blames for his father’s absence.
The Spectacular Now’s casting is almost perfect. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays his mom, and she immediately communicates single, hard-working mom who does not have a lot of money or time for his crap. Kyle Chandler, who usually plays inspirational, salt of the earth types, plays his father, and his words are simultaneously enthusiastic and vaguely hostile. After Teller’s character meets with him, I suspect that inside, Teller’s character remembers more about his father than he claims, but was hoping that he didn’t so blamed his mom instead. I’m not sure about whether the casting for his sister worked. I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead from 10 Cloverfield Lane, but she seemed so perfect that I can’t imagine her coming from two damaged people with an edge or maybe that is the point. Maybe the sister had the polar opposite reaction of her brother and went screaming the other way. I have seen Shailene Woodley in a handful of movies. Woodley is a reliable actor and is only as good as whomever she has to play opposite so she shines in this role. It was odd to see her play someone who has to be taught how to stand up for herself.
The Spectacular Now feels realistic and is primarily shot from Teller’s character’s point of view so when he loses interest or hazily remembers something from one of his drunken blackouts, the viewer knows how he feels. The Spectacular Now also deserves special kudos for having the most realistic sex scene with a brief discussion of condoms. Don’t let the teen movie stigma stop you from seeing The Spectacular Now. The Spectacular Now is an incredibly moving coming of age story where the future may not be so bright, but the characters have to wear shades to hide red eyes from tears or a long night.