The Spectacular Now, which premiered earlier this year at 2013 Sundance Film Festival, will have its Arizona Premiere on April 4th as this year’s Opening Night film selection at the 13th Annual Phoenix Film Festival!  James Ponsoldt, the director of The Spectacular Now, will also be on hand to introduce the film and participate in a post screening Q&A. This is Ponsoldt’s third feature film and an adaptation of Tim Tharp’s novel The Spectacular Now. 

The Spectacular Now is described as a funny, compassionate and poignant look at young adulthood.  The film captures the insecurity and confusion of adolescence without looking for tidy truths. Sutter Keely (Miles Teller from Footloose), 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 Finicky (Shailene Woodley from The Descendants) hovering over him. She’s different: the “nice girl” who reads science fiction and doesn’t have a boyfriend. While Amy has dreams of a future, Sutter lives in the impressive delusion of a spectacular now, yet somehow, they’re drawn together.