This was a good film, but I didn't like it.
Sutter Keely (Miles Teller) has charm and charisma is leaps and bounds. What he doesn't have is the drive to succeed. He has a job he likes, selling suits, but deep down, he has issues.
His girlfriend, Cassidy (Brie Larsen) has just broken up with him and he wants her back, but she can't. Sure, she really likes him, but she needs to move on and think about her future, not just live in the moment. But he will always be her favorite ex-boyfriend, a title I wouldn't really want to have.
Sutter is also an alcoholic, albeit a pretty functional one, but an alcoholic nevertheless. He drinks constantly and even carries a flask around with him at work. And then, one morning, he wakes up in someone else's yard. Aimee (Shailene Woodley) discovers him. She knows who he is, but he has no clue that she exists. Ricky (Masam Holden), Sutter's best friend, doesn't think Aimee will be a good rebound and Sutter proclaims that he doesn't have a future with her, but we all know how the movie will end, sort of.
The problem is, Aimee is much too good for him, as her friend from French Club, Kristal (Kaitlyn Dever), declares. She's right of course. Aimee is smart and even got into college in Philadelphia, though her mother won't let her go. Sutter tells her that isn't right and urges her to stand up for herself. Which she does. And she wants him to come with her. Though he says yes, the audience knows that there is reluctance behind it.
Sutter has his own problems. His parents are divorced and his mother won't let him have contact with his father. Fortunately, his sister, Holly (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) takes pity on him and gives Sutter the dad's address. Sutter is basically a younger version of his father. Dad (Kyle Chandler) is an alcoholic, broke and cares little about his son, blowing off a visit, preferring a quickie over visiting with his only son whom he hasn't seen in years. Sutter is furious and when Aimee says that she loves him, he wants her out of his car, because he knows that he is no good for her. So she gets out of his car, and is hit by another car. This is after Sutter nearly got into an accident but all she can ask is if he's okay. Aimee doesn't press charges and isn't even that mad at him, not wishing to even talk about the incident.
Sutter graduates by the skin of his teeth but doesn't follow her to Philadelphia. A broken-hearted Aimee boards the bus by herself. Sutter celebrates by getting drunk and nearly getting into another car accident. He sobs to his mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh, wasted in a small role) that he is just like his father. She says that's not true. His father only cared about himself while he always spent his whole like worrying about others. And he realizes that he's worried so much about others that he hasn't worried about himself. He can no longer live in the moment, the now, but fortunately, tomorrow also has one of those. So, he goes to Philadelphia and the film ends with Sutter and Aimee just looking at each other. You know she will forgive him. Because she's that kind of person. She's far too good for him.
That's my main problem. She knows that he is no good. She is blind to his huge problem of drinking constantly and loves him too much. Sure, he is the one who goes after and fortunately, she is strong enough to go without him, but she is in too deep. She gives her virginity to this guy (in a surprisingly tasteful sex scene) and this is how he repays her without a phone call, and she will just take him back, without any explanation. Actually, there probably will be some sort of conversation, Aimee can't just let him get away with that crap.
Despite my huge problems with the film, the acting is still great. This is Miles Teller's breakthrough role and Woodley is great. I liked her better here than in The Descendants. And the dialogue is real, very accurate. But the film wasn't as deep as I wanted it to be, but at least Sutter turned his life around, and for that, I'm very grateful. Grade: B+
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