Chew Reviews - “The Spectacular Now”
By Gary Chew | August 23, 2013 | Sutter Keely is the name of a charming high school senior who finds living in that thing called “...
https://www.elkgrovenews.net/2013/08/chews-reviews-spectacular-now.html
By Gary Chew | August 23, 2013 |
Sutter Keely is the name of a
charming high school senior
who finds living in that thing called “now” as being totally
spectacular. I have
a couple of things in common with this fictitious character
soon to be seen in a
well-grounded, for-teens movie, directed by James Ponsoldt.
It's called the “The
Spectacular Now.”
Sutter, portrayed by Miles Teller, is
a bubbly young man
who works in a medium-sized town men’s' store. The script
(written by Scott
Neustadter and Michael H. Weber) has him some place in the
anonymous South,
while the novel (by Tim Tharp) puts the kid in a town in
Oklahoma; the same
state in which I was a men’s wear salesmen at 18.
Really.
I don't think I was quite as
effervescent as Sutter at
18, and I wasn't into booze like he is in the movie, but
that predilection is
approaching as a real issue in Sutter's future. (By the way,
Tharp was born in
Henryetta, not far south of my favorite city in Oklahoma,
Tulsa.)
Director Ponsoldt seems to have taken
on a theme with the
last three features he's done; “Now” being the third.
Alcoholism plays a part in
all of them. (The other two are “Off the Black” and
“Smashed.”
(On another forthcoming film, by the
way, Ponsoldt is now
in preproduction with “Rodham” - a story about former first
lady, New York State
U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she
was a young lawyer
in Arkansas during Watergate.)
“The Spectacular Now” is not - I
repeat - not a totally
downer film, but it bounces around habitual, mirth-filled
boozing and doesn't
blink about what kinds of problems might arise when one is
compelled to lead a
lush life.
The principal actors are really fine.
Shailene Woodley,
who plays the older daughter of George Clooney's character
in “The Descendants,”
returns for another affecting turn. Her character is Aimee.
She's the “nice”
girl who is not typical dating material for
Sutter.
But Sutter has just been dumped by
his current
girlfriend, which puts him on a bit of a binge. Sutter
awakes one morning from a
stupor on the front lawn at Aimee's house. (It's a random
universe, some say.)
Sutter and Aimee begin an innocent relationship, which
Sutter is playing by ear.
Aimee, after some time, is smitten with Sutter. He's the
life of the party. He
also offers her strong libations, which, although she's not
the norm for him,
accepts boozing it up a bit, herself. Ms. Woodley also had a
good turn playing
drunk in a scene in the earlier Clooney picture.
The couple's relationship turns more
intimate with Sutter
getting his head flipped around over the obvious fact that
Aimee is different.
She's smart, she’s nice, she's generous, she's serious but
easy-going, and
unknowingly cool for a pretty teenage girl who, until
Sutter, really hasn't
dated much.
Sutter's parents, who've long been
separated, are brought
into the narrative. Their places in the story are fraught
with spoilers.
Jennifer Jason Leigh (“Greenberg”) and Kyle Chandler (“Zero
Dark 30”) play
Sutter's mom and dad.
The film is filled with tender
moments and much fun.
There's a love scene between Sutter and Aimee that looks –
seems to me – to be
realistic, without extensive body exposure for the pair. The
movie is
straightforward, throughout … without fancy … like: no
makeup on the principals
most of the time. The “warts” and all are plain to see on
their fresh,
enthusiastic faces. This isn’t a squeaky clean, spic ‘n’
span Hollywood kind of
picture.
The drinking is a quiet festering
held mostly at the
periphery, even though alcohol imbibed routinely in excess
has to be part of the
script for the cautionary message it delivers; one that’s a
good one for anyone
of any age but especially young, heavy drinkers.
Sporting a good deal of “bad”
language, “The Spectacular
Now” is quite a good film to see anyway. Plan ahead and schedule some time to
see it.
Copyright © by Gary Chew. All rights
reserved.
www.imdb.com
www.sacramentopress.com
www.humortimes.com
Hear: Fridays at 89.5 KVMR
Archived: www.kvmr.org
Podcasts: www.peterbcollins.com
www.elkgrovenews.net
Archived reviews from 2003-2011
at www.tulsatvmemories.com
Other stuff at http://www.soundcloud.com/decibellydancer
Post a Comment