A wonderful reversal, two periods of growing youth

Talon 2021-11-22 18:54:21

1. Growing from a cynical teenager to a man who meets secular standards and understands what responsibility is, this is a typical theme of many youth movies. There are no exceptions in "Good Scenery Now", in other words, it wants to tell the story of such a standard model without intending to make any accidents.
2. What's interesting is that the movie is reversed in half half of the time. The protagonist Sutter was originally an indulgent person who knows how to enjoy the present. He lives in his own world without thinking about the future or the feelings of others; the heroine Aimee is a good girl trapped by the family, and has never wanted to fight for her own thoughts. The life you want. At first, Sutter was Aimee's teacher, taught her to speak bad language, teach her to drink, and teach her to say no to her mother. But as to whether to meet with his biological father, the relationship between the two suddenly reversed. Sutter became a shy student, and Aimee became a strong teacher, pushing the boy step by step to find his father.
3. This half-fold reversal setting is very smooth and ingenious. Aimee's self-growth and the recognition of the concept of "I" have not been deliberately highlighted, but in the matter of letting her boyfriend visit her biological father, the change is on the verge of initiation, which in itself is a sign of growth. Be firm, confident, and even be a "mentor" for others in certain choices; at the same time, Sutter's sudden weakness and hesitation also truly reflects a child who has not yet come out of adolescence, under the coercive cynicism. Of softness. This time reverse, let the two children become each other's growth mentors in life, they let each other mature and soothe each other's pain. This is many times stronger than the geometry teacher who only knows how to let students do the problems.
4. The choice of the two actors and actresses is very different. The actor who plays sutter has too ordinary appearance and too loose body to match the standard hardware that a playboy should have; the heroine has the gentle atmosphere of the script setting, but her eyes are always letting people. I feel that there is some kind of secret connection with the blind. Aimee has a weird temperament that is similar to the three obediences and four virtues. Even after the car accident caused by her boyfriend, she still has no complaints. She has the personality of God in her body, and this setting is a bit of a failure.
5. In this movie, the role of "father" is actually completely vacant. Sutter's father appeared, but he still disappeared. He has never told his ambiguous girlfriend in the bar that he has a son. After many years of losing contact with his son, when the son took the initiative to come to the door, he still indulged in alcohol and threw his father's identity aside; and Aimee’s father took drugs and passed away. In her mouth, this is like a plain story that doesn’t matter to him; Sutter’s part-time clothing store owner is actually the most like his father’s role. Sutter sometimes jokingly asks, "When will you adopt me?" But he In the end, he fired Sutter and restored his identity to a mere boss.
6. After Sutter met his biological father, he almost collapsed. The real reason was not his father's indifference to him and his unbearable financial situation. What's more, Sutter suddenly saw his future in his father. Father is a cruel mirror image of him. He himself does not care about the future and lacks a sense of responsibility. All of this shows the feelings of a prodigal son during his adolescence, and even has a certain charming trait. His ex-girlfriend was tempted by such unruly, but this state will continue. It will be a disaster. He will eventually become a down-and-out middle-aged man, sloppy, obese, poor, and hated by everyone. When he saw this, he really started to be touched, which was more effective than any preaching.
7. Sutter's ex-girlfriend is a "standardized paradigm of life", adolescents are free, parties and love, lingering with the prodigal boyfriend, close to graduation, began to devote himself to the embrace of the student council chairman. At the graduation ceremony, she said to Sutter, "You will always be my favorite ex-boyfriend." This sentence is very meaningful. She left her favorite in the frame of youth with the word "before", and ran towards the symbol of A mature, responsible and orderly student council chairperson. The few appearances of the president of the black student union were very eye-catching, a "little adult" full of middle-class feeling. Who would start a charity at the age of 20? How much family discipline does this require that are contrary to instinct and age?
8. The director chose to express Sutter's maturity in a simple way, such as deleting those swear words that he thought he could advertise maverick in the college application letter. The design of the final scene is still a small ambition in the mainstream film, and there is no definite explanation. The embarrassment after Sutter and Aimee meet is not only the embarrassment of facing each other again, but also the embarrassment that the two teenagers will inevitably face after they enter the adult world.

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Extended Reading
  • Lilla 2021-11-22 18:54:21

    It should be the American youth film that impressed me the most in recent years. The excavation and reflection on the problem of American teenagers’ enjoyment and alcoholism are wrapped in the youth story of growth and love. The shots are fresh, natural and not greasy. Yu Er could not disperse for a long time. The two protagonists are radiant. Roger Ebert said: The two protagonists in a youth film look and behave exactly like contemporary American teenagers. Do you know how rare this is?

  • Clifford 2022-03-25 09:01:08

    Not only embrace the beautiful present, but also have the courage to embrace the future.

The Spectacular Now quotes

  • Sutter: P.S. - I don't know if this was due a long time ago. Probably was. That's fine. It may be too late for this essay. But it's not too late for me.

  • Cassidy: You'll always be my favorite ex-boyfriend.