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The Spectacular Now

Starring: Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley
Directed by: James Ponsoldt
Screenplay by: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
Based on the novel by Tim Tharp

    It looks like we have another teen romance movie on our hands.
    Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) is a typical hard partying student.  He's a high school senior who acts like nothing really matters and doesn't care much about anything.  All that changes when he meets Aimee Finicky (Shailene Woodley).  She's the "nice girl", the inexperienced girl; pretty much the exact opposite of Sutter.  All Sutter wants to do is stay in the same spot for the foreseeable future and not do anything productive.  Aimee has goals and dreams that she wants to achieve.  She wants to move to Philadelphia and make a life for herself in the city.  After a while, these plans begin to include Sutter, because the more time they spend together, the more in love she falls with him.  Will he go with Aimee or stay where he is?
    When I first saw the trailer for this film, I thought it would be obvious what I would take away from the movie, to learn how to enjoy the current moment and truly be a part of the now.  But this film did the exact opposite.  It told me to keep dreaming and keep pushing forward.  It tells the story from the perspective of a main character who enjoys the current moment too much, so much so, that he doesn't even think about the future.  
     I like that the main character of this film is someone we might not necessarily want to end up like.  I also like that these are totally 100% normal characters, unlike some of the other teen romance films out there (I won't name any names, but you know who you are).  I'm a believer that romance films such as The Spectacular Now should allow us to picture ourselves in the situation in some way.  I think that's what makes a strong connection between the film and the audience.  
     Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley both deliver strong performances and make for a relatively good screen couple.  There is plenty of good chemistry between them on screen.
     Overall, The Spectacular Now is a good film.  It isn't the happiest of romance movies in that it doesn't have the happiest of endings.  You'll just have to see the movie to find out what happens.
     I give The Spectacular Now a B+.

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