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The Spectacular Now | 2013 | R | - 6.4.7
When a teen (Miles Teller) who loves partying hard and drinking falls for "the nice girl" (Shailene Woodley), his world is turned upside down. Also with Brie Larson, Masam Holden, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bob Odenkirk and Andrew Royo. Directed by James Ponsoldt. [1:35]
SEX/NUDITY 6 - A teen boy and a teen girl are seen sitting on the teen girl's bed and the girl is wearing brief-style underwear and a T-shirt while the boy is wearing boxer-style underwear and a T-shirt; they kiss and the girl asks the boy to take off his shirt; we see them pull off their shirts and the girl is shown wearing a bra (cleavage and bare abdomen are seen) and we see a portion of the boy's bare chest; the two make vague implications that they are going to have sex as the girl hands the boy a condom and they get under the covers (we see the girl drop her underwear from under the covers); the boy gets on top of the girl and they are shown thrusting while we hear them moaning (bed sheets cover them for the most part but we do see a portion of the boy's bare back) and we see the two lying in bed together later with the girl kissing the boy.
► A teen girl is seen on top of a teen boy and although the shot is fuzzy, it appears to be a flashback of the boy having sex with the girl; we hear sexual moaning and we see her from the shoulders-up (she appears to be shirtless).
► A teen boy grabs a teen girl by the waist and pulls her onto his lap as he is sitting and they kiss. We see a teen boy put his arms around a teen girl; their faces get close and they kiss. A teen girl wraps her arms around a teen boy as the boy brushes hair back from the girl's face and rubs her arm; they kiss. A teen boy and a teen girl kiss in a school hallway. A teen boy and teen girl kiss. A teen boy kisses a teen girl. A teen boy has a flashback of himself kissing a teen girl.
► We see a teen boy in the shower and a portion of his bare upper chest is visible. We see a shirtless boy and his bare chest is visible. A teen girl leans over while wearing a tank top and we see her cleavage. A teen girl has her shirt tied under her bust; she is wearing a bikini under the shirt and a portion of her bare torso is visible.
► Two young women kiss a teen boy on the cheek; the teen boy makes a sexual remark and the young women walk away. A teen boy kisses a teen girl on the forehead. A teen boy kisses a teen girl on the cheek. A teen girl wraps her arms around a teen boy and kisses his shoulder. A teen boy and teen girl hug. A teen boy and a teen girl are seen sitting on the teen girl's bed and they make a vague reference to them having sex; the girl begins to cry and sends the boy away.
► We see teens dancing suggestively at a prom. A teen boy and a teen girl dance with their arms wrapped around one another.
► A teen boy's voiceover explains that he was trying to get his teenage friend some "sexual action" as we see two teen boys talking; one of the teen boys tells the other that he is going to get the teen boy "sweet, sweet action." A teen boy asks another teen boy if he had kissed a teen girl; the teen boy says that they had kissed and gotten "tongue action." A teen boy teases a young woman (his sister) that a group of older men had liked her when she was younger. A young woman and her teenage brother discuss how their father had cheated on their mother. A man implies to his teenage son that he had cheated on the boy's mother while they were married.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - While driving drunk, a teen boy swerves into oncoming traffic and a teen girl shouts at him; he swerves back into his lane and stops the car, he shouts at the teen girl after she acts concerned for the teen boy's health and he shoves her out of the car and we see a semi truck drive by rapidly and hit the girl; we see the teen girl in the hospital with her arm in a sling and she is later seen with her arm in a sling and a small bruise on her eye.
► While driving drunk, a teen boy swerves in and out of his lane of traffic as he is drifting in and out of consciousness; we see the boy drive down a street and plow over a mailbox, the boy's mother comes out of the house and shouts at him as he shouts back and she chases him into their house.
► A teen boy rapidly approaches another teen boy and it appears that he is about to hit him; we see the boy flinch and the other boy stands down. A teen girl accidentally hits a teen boy in the face and the boy jokes that the girl gave him "a bruise." A teen boy fires a water pistol at another teen boy. A woman jokingly acts like she is going to punch her teenage son and they both laugh.
► We hear a dog yelp and a teen boy jokes that he hit the dog with a newspaper that he was tossing, but that the dog was unharmed (we do not see the dog or impact).
► A teen girl shouts at a teen boy and storms away. A teen girl says that her father had died from a drug overdose, explaining that her older sister had found him dead and had to close his eyelids. A doctor advises a teen boy that the police could be involved (we do not see the police) after an incident when a teen girl was struck by a truck. We hear a portion of a story where a teen boy tells a teen girl that he had jumped out of a car going 25 MPH. A teen boy jokes that people defecate in water, and that people should not swim in it (we see people swimming in the background).
LANGUAGE 7 - About 20 F-words and its derivatives, a boy uses 2 obscene hand gestures toward a teen girl and a teen boy, 4 sexual references, 18 scatological terms (including seeing it typed in a document on-screen), 10 mild obscenities, name-calling (lost cause, sons of guns, rich kid, stoner, the joke everyone thinks you are, jerk), exclamations (shut-up), 2 religious profanities (GD, Christ's sake), 12 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, God, Jesus).
SUBSTANCE USE - A teen boy is seen smoking what appears to be a marijuana cigarette, and a teen girl tells a group of people that her father had a drug problem that had killed him. Throughout the movie we see a teen boy drinking beer and liquor from flasks at bars and at parties and by himself, a teen boy is seen driving while intoxicated as well as drinking and driving, a teen boy is seen carrying a cup that is implied to have soda with liquor (we see him pouring liquor from a flask into the cup on multiple occasions), a teen boy drinks liquor from a bottle by himself (he is obviously an alcoholic and is seen driving under the influence of alcohol), a teen boy drinks in a bar with an older man who is obviously intoxicated and we see them cheering to one another and drinking shots of liquor, a teen boy is seen drinking in a bar with a group of young women and he drinks shots of liquor and beer, a teen boy is seen waking up from blacking out in a random yard, a man lectures a teen boy about the boy showing up at work drunk and asks the boy not to come back to work drunk and the teen boy tells the man that he cannot promise, a teen girl drinks from a flask with a teen boy, we see a teen girl drinking throughout the movie from a flask and pouring liquor in a glass at a school dance and drinking in public from a flask, teenagers drink at parties throughout the movie, teenagers are seen drinking shots of liquor as well as having what are implied to be glasses of beer and serving beer for themselves from kegs, a man is obviously intoxicated when he greets his teenage son and a teen girl, we see a man drinking and offering his teenage son and a teen girl glasses of beer and we see the three of them drinking, men and women drink wine at dinner, a teen girl accuses a teen boy of being intoxicated and the teen boy retorts that the teen girl is also drunk, a teen girl asks a teen boy if he has "made her a lush" when he tells her about his new girlfriend, a teen boy tells a teen girl that his father had given him his first taste of beer as a child and had not "gotten drunk" but was allowed to have multiple sips, two teen girls ask a teen boy if he has any beer and the teen boy reveals a cooler full of beers, we see liquor and beer signs at a liquor store. A man smokes cigarettes near-constantly, a teen girl is seen holding a lit cigarette, and we see an ashtray filled with cigarette butts.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Alcoholism, coming-of-age, forgiveness, disappointment, graduation, teenage love, fidelity in a marriage, drunk driving, drunk driving accidents.
MESSAGE - Alcoholism is a very serious disease.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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