Director: James Ponsoldt

Writer: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber

Based On: Novel (The Spectacular Now) by Tim Tharp

Starring: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley,

Tomatometer: 90/95/82 (all critics, top critics, audience)

Spoiler-free Summary: Sutter is a high school senior floating through life in a drunken stupor. After he passes out on a random front lawn, Sutter is rescued by a shy classmate, Aimee, whom he’s never noticed.  Sutter spends the remainder of the school year trying to help Aimee break out of her shell.

Two Cents: Have you ever seen Reign Over Me?  Don’t worry, barely anyone has.  It’s a movie with Adam Sandler.  You’ll notice, I didn’t call it an Adam Sandler movie. ROM is nothing like Jack & Jill.  It’s about a guy who loses his wife and children in a plane crash and, subsequently, goes a tad nuts, understandably.  Starring opposite Don Cheadle, Sandler gave an incredible performance that was unlike anything he’d done previously. The most impressive part of Sandler’s performance was the fact that no one saw it coming (except for director Mike Binder, I guess).  Sure, Sandler has wasted his time with some awful comedies, but his remarkable performance in ROM forever altered my opinion of his acting abilities.

Miles Teller doesn’t possess the data sample that Sandler did before 2007, but, based on his previous work (Project X, 21 & Over, Footloose), his performance in The Spectacular Now is almost as surprising as Sandler’s was.  Teller’s Sutter starts out as a fun-loving, drunk high schooler you might encounter in any other teenage romance.  As the movie plays out, though, Teller reveals more and more about Sutter’s troubled past and the tension that’s constantly bubbling below his calm and freewheeling surface.  Teller is the kind of actor who seems so natural that you don’t quite believe he’s really acting at all.  If he didn’t seem so nice, I’d hate his guts.

I’m embarrassed to say it, but I must admit that someone from ABC Family has some serious acting chops.  No, it’s not Joey Lawrence.  Shailene Woodley escaped obscurity (unless you’re a female tween) with her breakout performance in The Descendants.  In that Oscar-winning film, Woodley played a teenage girl fighting to prove her adulthood.  In Spectacular, she plays a teenage girl timidly assessing hers.  Although the characters sound similar, they are markedly different.  She was really good in the former, but she truly nails it in the latter.

The chemistry between the two leads is not of legendary status, but it’s natural enough that you’ll want to see more movies with these two stars together.  (Sweet!  I just found out they’ll be starring in Neil Burger’s Divergent, in 2014.)  I’d argue it’s just a few hairs short of Noah and Allie’s in The Notebook.  I’d probably lose pretty quickly, but I’d still make the argument. Okay, now, I’m debating it in my head.  This has taken a sad turn.  Back to business!

The beaten-down-by-life performances from Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kyle Chandler, though small, are the perfect complements to the youthfulness exhibited by Teller and Woodley.  Ponsoldt does a marvelous job of capturing the very moments when teens begin to realize that teens are depressingly close to becoming adults, who are lightyears away from being teens.

There are a few problems with this film, but they mostly revolve around the unsettling ubiquity of armpit sweat stains.  I have to assume those were included on purpose.  Either that, or they were filming during an unprecedented, Georgian heatwave.  I didn’t love the film’s attitude toward drunk driving, but I grew more comfortable with it as the movie played.

Should I/Shouldn’t I: Teenage romance is one of the most important experiences in any person’s life.  Unfortunately, these days, it’s refreshing just to see a movie about one that doesn’t involve an immortal or a superhuman.  This movie’s got a whole lot more than that going for it.  The plot is realistic, the characters are deep, and Teller and Woodley (who shared a Special Jury award at Sundance) are worth the price of admission.  Sadly, I’m not sure either Teller or Woodley possesses the necessary “look” to become a bona fide Hollywood star, but they’ve each certainly got the talent (by far, the less important ingredient, unfortunately).  God, I hope I’m wrong!  I’ll put ten bucks on Teller becoming the next John Cusack.

Sundae Rating: Two scoops with whipped cream