Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Main character drinks and drinks and encourages others to do the same with no real consequences. I found the story flat. Watched it for the actors (and the high rating on IMDB), but they couldn't lift it up. Disappointed.

The Spectacular NowThe premise is somewhat familiar and seems like your typical teenage movie stuff, but as it ages on screen, it grows into this mature character driven feature that contradicts its tone. The first half of it is slow, mushy-gushy and spends its time on setting the plot and the characters' track. There are few inedible clauses in here but if neglecting and moving past it, it offers much more than a romantic genre usually does. It is shot beautifully when it focuses on its love track and is perfectly balanced on the dark and light aspects of it; especially in its last act. James Ponsoldt has done a decent work on executing this uneven and unsettled feature but it definitely could have edited better and improved on some other technical aspects too. The performance is where the wheel gets stuck as its lead characters (Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley) are not in their A game whilst the supporting cast (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Brie Larson) is far better. The Spectacular Now is spectacular on terms of its unpredictability as it laughs over the expectation of the audience which it outgrows by a major margin.

Most stories revolving around suburban high school life all pretty much go the same direction. "The Spectacular Now" is a revelation in coming-of-age cinema that has a powerful take on growing up and accepting oneself for who they are. Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are pitch perfect and work beautifully together, creating a bond audiences not only can invest in, but truly care for, making the film work on so many different levels. This is a film ever high schooler should see and learn from. It's an honest look at the awkward stage in ones life called high school in which no one is really sure what they're meant to do or where they're going, and where we rely on others to get us through the day and guide us through life. "The Spectacular Now" captures that and delivers excellent results.

After 5 minutes I gave up and turned the movie off. I thought it was all about this teen parties things, womanizers and so on. But after reading more about, I gave it a second chance and... wow... I cried all the time!I am 60 and I knew exactly what they were talking about: as a teacher, as a father as a former teenager everything is fine in this movie and Shailene does not die... Isn't it wonderful?