Author: Dan Stalcup

An outstanding teen drama about a big-hearted alcoholic and his repressed girlfriend who want to save each other. Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley are terrific, and the movie is incredibly romantic, sad, and funny in the right places. There’s a single-shot walk through the woods that is the most I’ve felt like a teen falling in love since I was a teen falling in love. Aimee (Woodley) ends up more a plot tool to develop Sutter (Teller) than a character with depth, but that’s basically my only complaint. Even the loser-daddy-issues thread, which should be a trainwreck, packs a big punch.

The Great Escape remains entertaining and rousing, but it has serious tonal issues that ultimately make it more shallow fun than anything profound. But it’s great fun indeed.