The beauty of watching The Spectacular Now is that Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are just living in the moment, in the now.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 27, 2023

Nothing about this film is spectacular, and that's what makes it worth watching. It's an honest look at the typical teenager, without the polished dialogue and overly-sexualized relationships seen in other teen-centered films.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 15, 2023

One of the interesting things about “The Spectacular Now” is how it employs several familiar plot points, but it treats each of them with a fresh and prudent sincerity.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 25, 2022

As a result of this diffuseness and its focus on individual moral or emotional choices, The Spectacular Now, probably without wishing to, drifts into a sort of conformism.

| Feb 12, 2021

Viewers who lock into the precise storytelling frequency transmitted here will be rewarded with a connection that will continue to stir the emotions well after it is over.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 19, 2020

Woodley deserves all the accolades she will most assuredly receive for giving such a disciplined yet vulnerable performance as Aimee.

| Original Score: 4.0/4.0 | Sep 24, 2020

The Spectacular Now is a touching, and sometimes funny, coming-of-age drama...one of the most honest and realistic teen films I have ever seen.

| Jul 18, 2020

A spectacular coming-of-age film that is thoughtful and moving filled with charm, sweetness, truth and honesty, The Spectacular Now is a "Must See".

| Nov 27, 2019

We need good films about teenagers, and The Spectacular Now isn't one of them.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 19, 2019

The movie wasn't smart enough to deal with the interesting protagonists it started with, and so it reverted to trope.

| Aug 28, 2019

The most startling thing about The Spectacular Now is that people seem to like it.

| Original Score: C- | Aug 27, 2019

The Spectacular Now will get under your skin and stay there.

| Jul 30, 2019

This film is pretty spectacular, a beautiful portrait of young love that feels authentic and is totally engaging.

| Original Score: A | Apr 9, 2019

The visionaries behind this film set their sights high, and I do believe they've achieved their goals.

| Nov 30, 2018

Only the opening conceit of a college essay Sutter needs to write reminds that what you're watching is a movie rather than a fleeting sense memory. Thankfully, it exists in more tangible form to be watched and rewatched.

| Nov 30, 2018

I really liked this film. It's not an '80s teen comedy by any stretch. It is, however, a moving story of a boy trying to become a man, in spite of himself.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 6, 2018

The nice girl love interest who wakes him up after one drunken night isn't given much personality other than a cursory interest in anime.

| Aug 30, 2018

Honest, smart and ugly in turns, it's a coming-of-age story on a wonderfully realistic scale, unaffected and perfectly cast.

| Aug 28, 2018

A beautiful rarity of a coming-of-age story.

| Apr 11, 2018

Just when you want the movie to take a daring leap, it steps back from the ledge and starts resembling too many others you've seen about addiction.

| Jul 13, 2017