Sundance Special Jury Prize winner, The Spectacular Now is yet another spectacular coming-of-age movie of 2013. The writer duo of Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustadter [500 Days of Summer] gives us an unsentimental and layered drama that successfully avoids the posturing of generic teenage romance. It offers a penetrative look into the susceptible confusion and tender fragility of youth. The director, James Ponsoldt brings out the characters' struggles with intense minimalism and nuanced restraint, embracing and juxtaposing the worlds of adolescents and grown-ups. The film boasts of an incredible supporting cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kyle Chandler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Andre Royo [The Wire] and Bob Odenkirk [Breaking Bad]. The lead pair of Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley play out their roles with effortless conviction, especially Shailene, who plays an unadorned, unassuming, innocuous loner with a muted elegance and lively spark, a departure from the commanding portrayal of George Clooney's daughter in The Descendants.
No comments:
Post a Comment