The Spectacular Now

Synopsis: Sutter Keely lives in the now. It's a good place for him. A high school senior, charming and self-possessed, he's the life of the party, loves his job at a men's clothing store, and has no plans for the future. A budding alcoholic, he's never far from his supersized, whiskey-fortified thirst-master cup. But after being dumped by his girlfriend, Sutter gets drunk and wakes up on a lawn with Aimee Finecky hovering over him. She's different: the "nice girl" who reads science fiction and doesn't have a boyfriend. While Aimee has dreams of a future, Sutter lives in the impressive delusion of a spectacular now, yet somehow, they're drawn together.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director(s): James Ponsoldt
Production: A24
  10 wins & 31 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.1
Metacritic:
82
Rotten Tomatoes:
92%
R
Year:
2013
95 min
Website
1,267 Views


Question number two.

Describe a challenge,

hardship or a misfortune...

you have experienced in your life.

What have you learned from this,

and how has it prepared you for the future?

Dear Dean of Admissions,

my name is Sutter Keely...

and up until yesterday I had

the best f***ing girlfriend in the world.

I know I probably shouldn't say "f***"

right there, but I'm sorry. I have to.

Like, we had this connection.

Seriously.

Everybody knew us.

Everybody loved us.

We were a force to be reckoned with.

I'm not gonna say that we were

the life of every party, but we were.

We were the life of every party.

Before Cassidy,

I wasn't much of a relationship guy.

But once we started hooking up,

that all changed.

I'm f***ing horny.

I liked her.

A lot.

Everything was going great in my world.

I don't know what happened.

I was just trying to get

my best friend Ricky...

some much-needed sexual attention.

Colleen Marshall. She's nice.

She's way too tall.

I'd look like her son.

Man, I'm tired of your excuses.

Tonight's the night.

What night is this?

Tonight's the night

I'm gonna get you some action, Ricky.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Get some sweet, sweet action.

I don't know about this, Sutter.

Why? They're just girls, man.

Relax. It's fine.

What is that?

It looks like potentiaI.

Just the man we were looking for.

What's up, Tara, Bethany?

Hey, girls.

- Know where we can score some beers?

- Yeah.

- I think I can help you out with that.

- Okay. Let's do it!

Let's do it!

PotentiaI, man. It's potentiaI.

- My hero!

- That's what I do.

Bethany, you know my friend Ricky,

don't you?

Sh*t, dude.

I forgot my cell phone in the car.

You guys go ahead.

We'll get the next one.

- Bye.

- Bye.

- That was bullshit about the phone?

- Totally.

I can't wait to get out of this place.

Can we put on something else, maybe?

You don't like this?

I love this. It relaxes me.

Gotta listen to the Iyrics too.

Who's this?

It was harmless.

I was just there helping out a friend.

- Is there something wrong with that?

- Hey.

But next thing I know, I'm being accused

of crossing a line or something.

- It was a complete misunderstanding.

- Who is this chick?

I still can't make sense of it.

- This is for Ricky. I put him in a canoe-

- You are a lost cause, Sutter!

- Cassidy, you can't be serious now.

- We are done! We're done!

To be honest, though,

I wasn't that worried.

We'd had our ups and downs, sure.

But what great couple doesn't?

I'm sorry.

All I had to do was calm her down,

explain the situation...

tell her how important she was to me,

how good we were together...

and how much our relationship meant.

Sutter, what are you doing here?

Cassidy, that is a really pretty dress

that you're wearing right now.

That's goddamn stunning, that dress.

- That dress- Wow.

- Thank you.

- Is he drunk or something?

- Probably.

Let's say if "drunk" equals "A"

and something else equals "B"...

the answer is definitely not "B."

- Sutter-

- Look, man, I know this is awkward.

- Maybe we should-

- No, it's really not awkward at all.

Marcus West talking to me.

What an honor, man.

- Hey, man-

- What an honor!

I completely understand the meaning

of the phrase "kicked to the curb"...

so I will bid you both

a pleasant evening.

- Sutter, what happened here-

- Just let him go.

He drives better this way.

Thank you for that

vote of confidence, beautifuI.

You are a very understanding woman

in everything but love.

F*** you.

You want hardship, misfortune?

There you go.

Will I wallow in my misery? No, I won't,

Dean of Admissions. Not Sutter Keely.

In the meantime, why should

she be the only one having fun?

It's a beautiful night outside,

and I am just getting started.

- I need to see your ID.

- What's up?

- Need to see your ID, bro.

- Dude, I had it, and then I forgot it-

I think I left it in there,

maybe in the bathroom.

- I'm sorry, brother.

- Hey, I know the manager.

- No ID, you can't get in.

- John?

The little one?

The manager? Big John.

What's up, ladies?

So, I'm 18 and I just got dumped

by my girlfriend and I need a drink.

So, would somebody-

like, anybody...

please have a drink with me?

Red sh*t!

What do you mean- Wait.

I thought we were all

hanging out after this.

Come on! Please! Please!

I'm not gonna beg you.

I will beg you. God!

Bye.

Hey! You're beautifuI!

You're holy!

Down with the king!

Down with the motherfucking king!

Hello?

Hello?

Hello? Hi.

Hi.

Hi. Oh, my God.

You're alive.

I thought for a second

that maybe you were dead.

I don't think I'm dead.

Where the hell am I?

You're in the middle of a yard.

- Do you know who lives here?

- No.

Jesus, I must've fallen asleep.

Here. Let me help you up.

Where the hell's my car?

I don't know.

Do you live around here, Sutter?

- How do you know my name?

- We go to the same schooI.

You wouldn't know who I am.

No, I know you. You're-

I'm Aimee. Aimee Finecky.

That's what I was gonna say.

Nice to meet you, Aimee.

- Nice to meet you.

- What time is it, Aimee?

It's, like, 6:
00 a. m.

Are you just getting back from a party

or something?

No, I'm just on my paper route.

It's not really mine.

It's my mom's.

But she was out with my stepdad

last night at a casino, so-

- They didn't get back till late.

- Do you need help?

- With my route?

- Yeah.

- No, I'm okay. Thank you though.

- I can help you.

I'm good. Thank you.

Aimee, you're gonna drive

around the neighborhood...

and I don't know where my car is.

So I think that we can

help each other out.

What do you say?

- Try aiming ahead of the driveway.

- Okay.

Didn't realize newspaper throwing

was such a big business.

- Must make a lot of money.

- Yeah. I mean, my mom does.

- You get nothing?

- No, I get a little.

Most of it goes toward

paying the bills though, so-

That doesn't sound fair.

You do all the work, don't you?

- Some of it- Most of it.

- She's your mom.

She should be paying all your bills.

I'm serious.

That doesn't sound fair to me.

I think you're getting the raw end

of this newspaper-throwing deaI.

- It's fine.

- I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Should have seen me back in the day.

When I was in Little League,

I had a good arm.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

My dad said I could have went pro

if I'd stuck with it.

Yeah! Dude, you're a naturaI.

Good job.

Sh*t. I think I hit a dog.

- What?

- I'm serious.

- Sutter!

- It's still walking.

Went way downtown!

You know, Aimee Finecky...

I was having a really rotten night

last night untiI you came along.

I think that we should

get lunch sometime.

- How about Monday?

- Okay. Monday it is.

- You're up early.

- Yup.

They have me

on a double shift. Again.

Damn it, Sutter.

Didn't I ask you to hang this for me?

Look how wrinkled this is.

Would've taken you two seconds to hang

this up for me. Is that too much to ask?

I forgot. I'm sorry.

It's not like you do much around here.

Hey. I do a lot around here.

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Scott Neustadter

Scott Eric Neustadter is an American screenwriter and producer. He often works with his writing partner, Michael H. Weber. The two writers wrote the original screenplays for Days of Summer and The Pink Panther 2. Days of Summer is based on two real relationships Neustadter had. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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