Miles Teller

The Solid (But Far From Spectacular) Now

  • Title: The Spectacular Now
  • IMDB: link

The Spectacular NowAdapted from Tim Tharp’s novel of the same name by the writing team that gave us (500) Days of Summer and Pink Panther 2, The Spectacular Now is a movie of great moments than never really lives up to the promise of the edgy indie coming of age story it so desperately wants to be. Much like last year’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which is a stronger film), the movie rides a group of strong performances to just the right notes at times, but too often it also absent-mindedly gets lost in the melody.

Our story centers around Sutter (Miles Teller), a popular 18 year-old alcholic who begins hanging out with the shy and awkward Aimee (Shailene Woodley, who even without makeup is far too pretty and outgoing for the role) while trying to get over being dumped by his longtime girlfriend Cassidy (Brie Larson). Despite the cliched pairing of the cool dude with the uncool mousey chick who his friends can’t fathom why he would date (even though she’s the cutest girl in the entire movie), the story eventually takes darker direction (although not nearly soon enough for my tastes).

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Rabbit Hole

  • Title: Rabbit Hole
  • IMDB: link

Is there anything worse than the loss of a child? Adapted from his play, writer David Lindsay-Abaire gives us the tale of a couple struggling with the death of their young son Danny (Phoenix List) eight months after his death.

On the outside the lives of Howie (Aaron Eckhart) and Becca (Nicole Kidman) seem normal enough. But we can tell something is wrong. We slowly realize there is a missing member of this family whose absence is not only felt in every frame but is slowly destroying the couple from within.

For 90 minutes we follow Howie and Becca through their pain, various coping techniques, and watch each of them struggle with their inability to move beyond such a devastating loss. Director John Cameron Mitchell‘s film is not a fun hour-and-a-half by any means. This version of Lindsay-Abaire’s play is full of raw emotion just under (and often boiling over) the surface.

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