The Spectacular Now

Review by Pamela Zoslov

Sutter Keely, the high school senior at the center of THE SPECTACULAR NOW, is a believer in “living in the now” — not because he's a Buddhist or an adherent of Eckhart Tolle, but because it's his nature to resist change. An easygoing kid, he's content with his lackluster grades and his job at a men's clothing store. Unlike his friends, he has no plans to go to college. Miles' secure little world is shaken when his pretty blond girlfriend, Cassidy (Brie Larsson) dumps him, sending him on a painful emotional journey.

Directed by James Ponsoldt and written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 DAYS OF SUMMER), THE SPECTACULAR NOW takes a seemingly prosaic young-adult story and transforms it, through the alchemy of expert handling, into something extraordinary. The story, adapted from a novel by Tim Tharp, has the soggy elements of a Nicholas Sparks weepie: divorced parents, an absent alcoholic dad, a troubled teen romance. Yet there is depth here, enhanced by strong casting, confident direction, understated cinematography and insightful writing. (Happily, the movie also has none of the grating “quirkiness” of 500 DAYS OF SUMMER.)