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The Spectacular Now (2013), R, 4 stars

Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller.
I have to confess that I have not seen a great teenage movie in a long time where it deals with a slowly revolving relationship that involves two mismatched people. Of course, we had bad comedies about it. But, a teenage drama. This is going to be high praise coming from me. I think this movie really ranks with the John Hughes movies with "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club" and also with "Say Anything". It's that good. Sutter (Miles Teller) is a high school senior who works at a clothing store and has no plans for the future. After he was dumped by his girlfriend (Brie Larson), he goes into a depression which consumes him into alcoholism. He does not have great relationships with his sister, mother and father. (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kyle Chandler). He is found on a lawn by Aimee (Shailene Woodley), a nice girl who has an outlook of her future. They both challenge each other on what's going on in their lives and they form an unusually romantic bond. It's not a light movie as the story goes into deeper and darker territories. Teller and Woodley are sensational as the two lead characters because both are real smart teenage characters with realistic problems and outlooks of life. And, the romance is not corny at all. This movie is a treasure and it is one of the best movies of the year.

****

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