The Spectacular Now (2013)

207) The Spectacular Now (2013)

A hard-partying high school senior’s philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical “nice girl.”

9/10 – I didn’t really like 500 Days of Summer, and when I saw the first line of Wikipedia describing this as a “American romantic comedy-drama film” I had my mind already made up – I was going to hate this.

What a complete turn around. For the most part, this film remains unpredictable, genuine and honest and it’s an absolute joy to watch. The story unfolds naturally, the experiences look normal and consequently their experiences become highly relatable making for an altogether different film from what I expected. An element of this is down to the casting of Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley as the two leads, they look and act like regular kids and it adds volumes to the films authenticity. 

It’s a film that I want to go back and watch again. It left me feeling neither happy or sad, it’s dark undertones with the combined hopeful and hopelessness of the future made for compelling viewing and an engrossing drama. Don’t be put off by the poster, or genre it falls into – looks can be deceiving.