A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl."A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl."A hard-partying high school senior's philosophy on life changes when he meets the not-so-typical "nice girl."
- Awards
- 9 wins & 32 nominations
Nicci Roessler
- Tara
- (as Nicci Faires)
Ava-Marie London
- Bethany
- (as Ava London)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to the director, he was worried that Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley wouldn't get along after he saw them interact at a lunch he arranged. Teller (who was late to meeting because he had been in Las Vegas with friends the night before) was outgoing and energetic, while Woodley, though amused by Teller, was quiet and for the most part kept to herself unless she was spoken to. After the lunch was over and the director was driving away, he noticed Woodley and Teller talking in the parking lot, but decided to leave them alone - he later found out that the two of them spent two hours talking and getting to know each other in the parking lot. Teller and Woodley are now close friends.
- GoofsWhen Bethany and Tara drive up next to Sutter and Ricky, a view from behind both cars reveals that they both have the same license plate number.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards (2014)
- SoundtracksLive Fast, Love Hard, Die Young
Written by Joe Allison
Performed by Faron Young
Courtesy of Dominion Entertainment Inc.
Under license from Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Featured review
Finally a good teen movie
I wanted to see this film to soothe my wife. She usually loves adolescent romance stuff, so I thought I would suffer through it. Instead, I ended up liking it more than she did.
The thing about romance films and adolescence films in particular is that the kids are presented like complete idiots, like aliens from the planet Dumb. In order to keep up with this superficial image all other characters must act the same. The result is a complete fake.
The Spectacular Now is nothing like that. From the start it portrays teens as complex, intelligent, troubled about their past and their future, maybe laid back alcoholics or chronically shy or overachievers with low self esteem. And they all interact like human beings. It's a joy to see a film like this.
I also loved that they didn't use the cheap tricks of romance movies in general. No evil adversary to define the character as good, no ultimate goal to direct the entire film from point A to point B, no artificial accidents or catastrophes to move people out of their stupor, no highschool cliques, no Facebook or Twitter dramas. Instead, normal people doing normal stuff, trying to get over themselves and have a happy life.
The film was not without its flaws. It was a little too slow, for once. It only lasted an hour and a half but it felt like more. Also there is a somewhat seamless jump of a few years that takes the viewer by surprise (I still don't know when it happened). Also, I am a bit grumpy today, the film probably deserved a 9. Go watch it!
The thing about romance films and adolescence films in particular is that the kids are presented like complete idiots, like aliens from the planet Dumb. In order to keep up with this superficial image all other characters must act the same. The result is a complete fake.
The Spectacular Now is nothing like that. From the start it portrays teens as complex, intelligent, troubled about their past and their future, maybe laid back alcoholics or chronically shy or overachievers with low self esteem. And they all interact like human beings. It's a joy to see a film like this.
I also loved that they didn't use the cheap tricks of romance movies in general. No evil adversary to define the character as good, no ultimate goal to direct the entire film from point A to point B, no artificial accidents or catastrophes to move people out of their stupor, no highschool cliques, no Facebook or Twitter dramas. Instead, normal people doing normal stuff, trying to get over themselves and have a happy life.
The film was not without its flaws. It was a little too slow, for once. It only lasted an hour and a half but it felt like more. Also there is a somewhat seamless jump of a few years that takes the viewer by surprise (I still don't know when it happened). Also, I am a bit grumpy today, the film probably deserved a 9. Go watch it!
helpful•8416
- siderite
- Jan 5, 2014
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- El esplendoroso presente
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $2,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $6,854,611
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $197,415
- Aug 4, 2013
- Gross worldwide
- $6,918,591
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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![Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller in The Spectacular Now (2013)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjA5MTc0NTkzM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODEwNjE3OQ@@._V1_QL75_UY133_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)