[Review] The Spectacular Now (6.5/10)

While The Spectacular Now was Shailene Woodley's follow-up to her breakout role in the Academy Award-winning The Descendants, it was probably what launched the dramatic career of Miles Teller.

But it was also the movie that put James Ponsoldt into the Hollywood spotlight. He in turn went on to direct The End Of The Tour and the recent Tom Hanks-headlined, but critically and commercially disappointing The Circle.

This movie definitely boasted fantastic performances from Woodley and (even more so) Teller. There was also another great dramatic turn by Kyle Chandler, while smaller roles for Jennifer Jason Leigh and Brie Larson.

However, I thought there was too much of a slow build-up and a slow burn, that culminated in one of Teller's best emotional performances at the end that did not have a big enough of a pay-off.

Still, the pacing and directing was definitely consistent. You can tell there was something special and different about it right from the start. 

The dialogue was delivered in such a way as if they were not fully scripted and Teller and Woodley just improvised and riffed a lot of it, making the delivery felt more real. Unfortunately, I was not such a big fan of this.