The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
The Spectacular Now
Comedy · Drama · Romance · 2013
Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.
Movie details
The Spectacular Now
“Hits You Like A Shot In The Heart.”
2013 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 35m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.7 / 10
Community rating
Sutter, a popular party animal, unexpectedly meets the introverted Aimee after waking up on a stranger's lawn. As Sutter deals with the problems in his life and Aimee plans for her future beyond school, an unexpected romance blossoms between them.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Spectacular Now?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Comedy · 1982
A group of Southern-California high school students ignore their studies in favor of indulging in their teenage distractions.
Father of the Bride
Romance · 2022
A father comes to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family.
It's Kind of a Funny Story
Comedy · 2010
A clinically depressed teenager gets a new start after he checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward.
The Baltimorons
Comedy · 2025
A newly sober man's Christmas Eve dental emergency leads to an unexpected romance with his older dentist as they explore Baltimore together.
The First Time
Drama · 2012
A spark of attraction smolders, then ignites, between two teens from different high schools who meet by chance at a party.
Love in Taipei
Romance · 2023
A young American woman is sent by her parents to a cultural immersion program in Taipei where she begins a new journey of self-discovery and romance.
Geography Club
Comedy · 2013
A coming-of-age movie that tells a story unfolding in every high school around the country -- a story of kids hiding their true identities in plain sight, even as they feverishly pursue their hearts' desires.
Jersey Girl
Comedy · 2004
Ollie Trinke is a young, suave music publicist who seems to have it all, with a new wife and a baby on the way. But life deals him a bum hand when he's suddenly faced with single fatherhood, a defunct career and having to move in with his father. To bounce back, it takes a new love and the courage instilled in him by his daughter.
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Comedy · 2008
Georgia Nicolson is fourteen, lives with nosey parents who don't understand her, an annoying three year old sister and has to wear a beret to school. She would, however, rather be blonde, have a smaller nose and a boyfriend. Revolving around her hilarious journal entries, prepare to be engulfed in the world of the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager.
After
Drama · 2019
Tessa Young is a dedicated student, dutiful daughter and loyal girlfriend to her high school sweetheart. Entering her first semester of college, Tessa's guarded world opens up when she meets Hardin Scott, a mysterious and brooding rebel who makes her question all she thought she knew about herself -- and what she wants out of life.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
James Ponsoldt
Written by
Scott Neustadter · Michael H. Weber
Miles Teller
Sutter Keely
Shailene Woodley
Aimee Finecky
Masam Holden
Ricky Mehlinger
Kaitlyn Dever
Krystal Krittenbrink
Brie Larson
Cassidy Roy
Kyle Chandler
Tommy Keely
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Sara Keely
Court is in session
Put The Spectacular Now on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.