The Spectacular Now (2013)
Director: James Ponsoldt Run Time: 95 min. Rating: R Release Year: 2013
Starring: Brie Larson, Kaitlyn Dever, Masam Holden, Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley
Country: United States
Language: English
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About the film:
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.
“This adaptation of Tim Tharp’s novel, directed with delicate restraint by James Ponsoldt, sneaks up on you. It makes you laugh, then it breaks your heart.”
—Rene Rodriguez for the Miami Herald
About the filmmaker:
James Ponsoldt is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. Born and raised in Athens, Georgia, Ponsoldt earnde his Bachelor’s degree from Yale University and attended the prestigious film program at Columbia University. His debut feature Off the Black (2006) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Ponsoldt followed that film up with We Saw Such Things (2008), a documentary about a popular tourist attraction in Florida, and 2012’s Smashed, a drama about a young married couple and their mutual struggle with alcoholism.
In 2013 Ponsoldt directed a film adaptation of the popular young adult novel The Spectacular Now. The movie, starring Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller, received overwhelmingly positive reviews after its premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and went on to win the Festival’s Special Jury Award for Acting. Ponsoldt’s next film, 2015’s The End of the Tour, was a biographical drama about the late novelist David Foster Wallace.
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