Vibe Magazine caught up with the cast of The Spectacular Now during their Sundance premiere and talked about how the film is similar to teen movies from the 80s.
Also, EW named TSN a “lovely and original teen movie”:
The Spectacular Now was adapted from a novel by Tim Tharp, and that’s part of what accounts for its rich and exploratory psychological texture, but it’s also not afraid of being an all-out teen movie. There are hookups and dates, beer and sex, caustic discussions of divorce, a romantic triangle, and a senior prom. That said, The Spectacular Now is one of the rare truly soulful and authentic teen movies, like last year’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower or the classic one from 24 years ago that this one most reminded me of: Say Anything. Like them, it’s a movie about the experience of being caught on the cusp and truly not knowing which way you’ll land.
The Spectacular Now, like Flight or Steve Buscemi’s Trees Lounge, is the story of a very functional drinker, but it’s no case study. The movie has a deep, touching nostalgia for the romance of teenage life, and that, in a way, is Sutter’s whole problem: He doesn’t want to let go of that. It would mean doing what every drinker, clinging to his adult baby bottle, doesn’t want to do: grow up.