The Spectacular Now - 2013 - 3½ Stars

Actors:  Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley
Director:  James Ponsoldt

Note:  Minor Spoilers Ahead

Adolesence lends itself to film because there's a natural tendency for someone to guess at what a high schooler will become as an adult.  Thus there's an inherent dramatic irony to coming-of-age films - the characters typically see life's infinite possibilities, whereas we see the forming of habits and personality that will put them into a certain box.  The walls around their life are getting tighter just as they think the walls are getting looser.  The Spectacular Now uses this dramatic irony quite well, without necessarily resorting to high drama or other classic tropes of teenagerdom.  Often silence (or deflection) says more.  Ponsoldt also employs more long takes in conversation than would be customary in a film like this, which enhances the reality of dialogue.

One of the conceits of the film is that Shailene Woodley's character has never had a boyfriend - this gets into tricky territory for films, because filmmakers want to cast attractive people, but on the other hand given her looks, this is somewhat ludicrous.