YMMV / The Spectacular Now

• Adaptation Displacement: Very few people are aware of the novel the film was based on.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The ending of course is left completely open, so viewers can interpret this however they like. On the one hand, Aimee is implied to have been at college for some time (possibly a few weeks) and Sutter not turning up to the bus might have been the last straw for her. On the other, she might give him another chance and they could decide they're Better as Friends. But then again, Sutter has at least started to get over his issues somewhat - and Aimee has shown herself to be understanding of him.
  • Aimee's attitude in the romance is open to interpretation. There is the possibility that she does love Sutter and can see the good in him. But there's also the possibility that she's just seeing him because she believes she's not pretty and she might not get another option.
  • Does Sutter see himself as a Manic Pixie Dream Guy in some way? He seems to make it his mission to liven up other people's lives by convincing them to live 'in the now'.
  • It's up for debate how much sympathy Cassidy deserves. Given that she dumps Sutter over a simple misunderstanding (that she does not give him the chance to explain) and is already seeing another guy by the time of the next party - she could well be a drama queen. And since she messages Sutter with phrases like "I miss you" but then makes sure Sutter sees her with Marcus at the party, she appears to be quite manipulative. By all accounts, she was the unhealthy partner in that relationship.
• Award Snub: Notoriously so. Despite being both very well received by audiences and a major critics darling to the point of exceptionally high praise (including making many year's best lists and an extremely positive reaction in one of Roger Ebert's final reviews too), the movie was infamously shut out from all major awards consideration for the most part with the movie itself not recognized for Best Picture and both Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley not receiving any kind of accolades for their performances either.
• Fridge Brilliance: Sutter's interest in Aimee right from the start is not necessarily motivated by him wanting to "give her the boyfriend experience". Her introduction is checking on him and making sure he's okay after he passes out on the lawn. It's later shown that he doesn't believe anyone could ever love him, so his interest in Aimee is one big Because You Were Nice to Me.
• Funny Moments: See here.
• Harsher in Hindsight: After The Reveal that Sutter's father is a deadbeat, broke alcoholic and renowned barfly, Holly's reaction to Aimee's story about her father is even more painful. She too has seen her father spiral out of control because of addiction, though their father isn't dead... yet.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: The open ending is this once you know that Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley became good friends and have stayed as such ever since the movie was made. She also became friends with her co-star Brie Larson despite how opposite their characters are.
• Heartwarming Moments: See here.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley would once again share the screen... as rivals, in Divergent. The fact that this comes after the film's Ambiguous Ending makes it even funnier.
  • Also seeing Shailene Woodley having to be taught how to curse is hilarious if you've seen her in The Descendants. There, she's a bratty pottymouth who gets reprimanded for cursing around her younger sister.
  • The film also has an Ambiguous Ending. Fast forward to The Fault in Our Stars where Shailene Woodley's character angsts over her favourite book having No Ending - and even tracks down the author to find out what happened next.
  • The three leads of this have now gone onto join superhero franchises. Miles Teller in Fantastic Four (2015), Shailene Woodley in The Amazing Spider-Man (though her scenes were cut) and Brie Larson as Captain Marvel (2019).
• Hollywood Homely: Intentionally evoked, somewhat, as star Shailene Woodley didn't wear makeup in any of her scenes cause she thought Aimee never would in real-life and wanted to stay true to her character's more demure nature. That's all despite the fact that she's also Shailene Woodley and it mostly just succeeds in making her look more age-appropiate, as she's still noticeably one of the most attractive girls in school. In this case, she's implied to be a shy Shrinking Violet, who believes she isn't pretty. Sutter does comment that two guys appeared to be checking her out at the party.
• Jerkass Woobie: Sutter initially appears to be a shallow jerk. But it soon becomes clear that he's really a lonely guy who distances himself from life because he's terrified of feeling anything.
• Memetic Mutation: After The Fault in Our Stars featuring Shailene Woodley as the love interest of another of her Divergent co-stars, there are lots of memes about her two-timing Miles Teller, Theo James and Ansel Elgort.
• Moe: Aimee of course. She's such a sweetheart of a girl, and the scene of her showing Sutter her collection of sci-fi books is several levels of adorable. Then there's the cute way she claps her hand over her mouth in horror after she says "mother fuck" for the first time.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Aimee laughing. Shailene Woodley has a beautiful voice in general but hearing her laugh just seals it.
• One-Scene Wonder:
  • Aimee's little brother. Only a few seconds of screen time, minimal dialogue and all he does is give them the double finger when he's on screen. But boy do you remember it.
  • Sutter's father only has about ten minutes of screen time too, but his portion is easily the most memorable in the film.
• Pragmatic Adaptation: A bit compared to the novel, mostly in editing out a number of scenes and making the ending more ambiguous instead of the somewhat Downer Ending the book has.
• Tear Jerker: See here.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Cassidy is treated sympathetically by the narrative, but she does a lot of rather mean-spirited things. She dumps Sutter and immediately moves onto Marcus - the implication being that she might be trying to make Sutter jealous. Then she invites him over to her house, but then rejects him again. The fact that Marcus comes to Sutter for advice on her suggests that she's a very difficult person to get along with.