The vast majority of critics give coming of age movies
something of a free pass when they are at least somewhat well done. This is
especially true if the film focusses on the trials and tribulations of a
socially awkward male character and their growing up rather than a group of
popular nubile youngsters parading around a beach (ie ‘American Pie’). Add in a
relationship with a waif but unconventionally attractive female character and
some conflict resulting from negligent parents or an early life tragedy, and
the film is a shoe-in for critical acclaim and adulation. The last several
years have seen a number of such movies released on the festival scene, and
while most are enjoyable enough to watch, few are truly memorable; moreover, there
exists a significant quality gap amongst them that separates them that most
critics seem unwilling to point out. In particular, I’m talking about ‘Adventureland’,
‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’, ‘The Way Way Back’ and the focus of this
piece, ‘The Spectacular Now’.
Much of the praise heaped on these films centers on certain
innate qualities that they possess and separate them (supposedly) from your
garden variety teenage booze fest, namely that the characters are ‘real’ and
their motives and actions ‘genuine’. And while by comparison these films are
certainly more ‘real’ or ‘genuine’ than other teen films, there is a wide gap
in their embodiment of these seemingly ineffable qualities that has a
significant influence on their overall quality and success as films.
Exhibit A: James Ponsoldt’s ‘The Spectacular Now’. This film
tells the story of Sutter Keely (Miles Teller), a popular, easygoing high
school senior who is the life of every party. As the film opens, however,
Sutter’s slacker ways are starting to catch up with him: the girl of his dreams
has broken up with him due to his alcoholism, he’s failing many of his high
school classes, and he has little in the way of plans for his future. One day
after a night out partying, Sutter wakes up on the lawn of a classmate, the
awkward Aimee Finecky (Shailene Woodley). The two form a relationship that
quickly turns romantic, with Sutter helping Aimee to come out of her shell
socially (through copious application of social lubrication) and Aimee helping
Sutter with his academic failings. More importantly, the two make a pact to
confront their mothers over their parental styles: Aimee needs to tell her
domineering mother to set her free so she can go to college, while Sutter wants
to finally meet his father.
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| Pictured: Teller and the fifth generation Honda Accord he treats so despicably |
Up until this point, the film does a good job setting up the
characters and their respective personality flaws for what you would hope to be
some nice conflict, character growth, and eventually resolution in the final
act. Unfortunately, in reaching its conclusion the film not only misses all
this ‘nice conflict’ stuff in the middle, it goes so far as to create
additional conflicts that are never resolved, or even treated by the script. Aimee
confronts her mother and, after some conflict, manages to change her mind about
college. After some additional encouragement from Aimee, Sutter eventually
meets his father Tommy (Kyle Chandler), only to be disappointed (somewhat
unsurprisingly) to find an alcoholic who is unwilling to confront reality.
Sadly, these critical scenes mostly fail to deliver emotionally, and the
remainder of the film doesn’t do much better, delivering what is a fairly
predictable ending.
This film fails because so many of the actions and reactions
that its characters have to emotional stimulus provided by the plot do not make
sense. This is particularly true of Sutter, who is played by Teller in such a
way that it rarely seems as though he isn’t acting – his delivery is often
forced and his emotions are not particularly nuanced. Woodley isn’t much better
as Aimee; her character is completely and totally dependent on Miles (she has
no scenes by herself), and rarely if ever challenges him when he does her
wrong. Her character goes badly under developed by the plot, and as a result
she exists only to act as a minor foil for Sutter, turning a potential
relationship story into an individual one focused on the uninspiring Mr. Teller.
While it is possible that these emotional limitations were intentionally placed
on the characters to realistically depict adolescents, it raises the question
of why this movie was even made if it was going to be about boring teenagers.
What’s most glaring about this film, however, is its
treatment of alcohol use by the teenagers. Sutter is rarely if ever sober when
on screen, and is often flat out drunk. He loses the ‘girl of his dreams’ at
the start of the film when she realizes his problem and grows frustrated by his
inability to confront or acknowledge it. Sutter then uses alcohol to lubricate
his relationship with Aimee, quickly turning her into an alcoholic as well. The
film misses a significant opportunity to explore and portray a relationship
between two people so young suffering from substance abuse problems, and to
make matters worse, the characters rarely suffer the consequences of their
behavior. For the numerous times he drives drunk, Sutter is only involved in a
minor accident. Aimee, meanwhile, is at one point struck by a car on a highway
and somehow suffers only a broken arm. The adult characters seem, with one exception,
relatively unconcerned by this behavior. By the end of the film, none of the
main characters have matured or developed significantly. The depiction of
alcohol use in the film is disappointing not just for the untapped plot
potential that this issue offered, but also for the unrealistic and frankly dangerous lack of consequences it depicts.
| Chandler, Woodely, and Teller |
Not all the performances in this film disappoint. Jennifer
Jason Leigh and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are both strong in (very) limited roles
as Sutter’s mother and sister, respectively, while Kyle Chandler is good in the
lone scene he has as Sutter’s father. Ponsoldt would have done well to expand
these roles to remove some of the focus and dramatic burden off the two young
leads. It also bears mentioning that this film fails the bechdel test, a likely
contributor to its dramatic shortcomings.
This film attempted to tell the story of two young lovers
and their relationship as both make the transition to adulthood. Unfortunately,
it fails to develop interesting, realistic characters that capture the
audience’s attention. More disappointingly, this film was a missed opportunity
to explore an adolescent relationship influenced by alcohol, instead chosing to
overlook this important and difficult details that would have ultimately led to
a much more successful and compelling film. Ponsoldt, Woodley, and Teller all
have potential, but for now their work leaves something to be desired.
The Spectacular Now (2013)
Directed by James Ponsoldt
Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, based on the novel by Tim Tharp
Starring Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Kyle Chandler
Cinematography by Jess Hall and Music by Rob Simonsen
96 minuets
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