The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

I just saw an early screening of the movie at a local Cinemark in Texas. It was really good! Had a very unique and fresh feel to it.

Hailee Steinfeld did a fantastic job selling the role and coming across naturally as a seventeen year old trying to figure out life. She has a natural talent for comedic timing and she was just downright enjoyable to watch in this movie as her character Nadine. While being a immature teenager with next-to-no friends who feels like she has the worst life ever, she surprisingly has a lot of depth.

Most of her conflicts she causes herself due to her stubborn and self-loathing personality. These things along with her insecure personality make for a realistic approach to a seventeen year old constantly desiring to fit in but not possessing the social abilities to do so. She is not the most likable person but as the movie progresses she slowly starts becoming more tolerable.

Other conflicts relate to her brother Darian (Blake Jenner) who she is envious and resentful of, best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), and occasionally her mother (Kyra Sedgwick) as well. The cast great job overall and I would have to say there wasn't really any performance from this cast I did not enjoy watching.

I already mentioned that Hailee nailed her role, but it was Woody Harrelson as Nadine's teacher Mr. Bruner that completely shined in every scene he was in. I could have watched Nadine and Mr. Bruner in a classroom for the entire movie, because their comedic chemistry was such a pleasure to watch. Mr. Bruner is a cynical school teacher that is constantly being bombarded by Nadine with the drama and troubles she goes through on a frequent basis. The scenes with his character always had the theater laughing and he added a great touch to this film as her teacher.

There were only a couple of issues I had. While Nadine was an very enjoyable character to watch, it was sometimes hard to believe her situation being as bad as it was. Being played by Hailee Steinfeld, she is not exactly unattractive even without make-up. One scene when she dresses up in the movie she is downright stunning, which makes me wonder why she didn't just dress this way all the time? That is instead of complaining about how much she hated her face, voice, etc. They did a good job attempting to dress her in a way that she would not appear as attractive, but you can only do so much as Hailee is naturally attractive and this made her troubles at times unbelievable.

There would be several scenes in the movie where she would be unable to relate or socialize with others, such as at a party. She would state on several occasions that she hated how insecure she was and hated several of her characteristics, but then scenes later had no issue going swimming alone with a boy for several hours and not appearing socially awkward in the least. These inconsistencies made it a bit hard to narrow down her personality but it did not take away from the entertainment value of the movie.

Overall I really enjoyed the movie and believe it was very well done. Nothing too serious but definitely a breath of fresh air in this type of genre.

8/10

Fmovies: Kelly Fremon Craig wrote and directed the 2016 coming-of-age story, The Edge of Seventeen. Starring Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, and Woody Harrelson, The Edge of Seventeen tells the ever so familiar tale of navigating high school and the awkward teenage years just as your world begins to fall apart. Kelly Fremon Craig follows the formula of a coming-of-age story while still managing to tug at the heartstrings of the audience and keep us engaged through the final scene. Brilliantly written with a wonderful cast, The Edge of Seventeen is sure to gain attention this Oscar season.

Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) has always been, a little different. There was a time in her life in which she felt like such an outcast, she refused to get out of the car and enter school. Everything changed when she met Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) Finally, Nadine had a friend and felt like she belonged with someone. Nadine and Krista were attached at the hip, navigating life's challenges and the unique difficulties of their lives. Nadine has always felt overshadowed by her older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) who seems to never have a challenge with any aspect of his life. Nadine never felt worse about her brother than when he began dating Krista. The union between Krista and Darian was too much for Nadine to bear, and she drew a line in the sand presenting Krista with the ultimatum of choosing between Nadine and her brother. When Krista refused to answer, Nadine abandoned their friendship forging through life and high school and every awkward situation that comes with it friendless and alone, with the exception of her favorite teacher, Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson).

Kelly Fremon Craig crafted a brilliant script, reminiscent of Diablo Cody, with a perfectly conversational tone and wonderfully engaging pop culture references. The most brilliant aspect of the script was that each character was fully developed. It is so rare, especially in a coming-of-age story to have each character so beautifully fleshed out so the audience can understand the film from each perspective. The Edge of Seventeen, especially, was dependent upon being able to see the perspective of each character, as Nadine was often criticized for being self-centered in her belief that she was the only one experiencing problems in regards to the change in her family. The edge of Seventeen was an incredibly relatable story, which is the driving force of a coming-of-age tale; this inherent relatability is in no small part aided by the wonderful acting of the film's lead. Hailee Steinfeld played a perfect lead and was scene stealing and captivating every moment she was on-screen. Kelly Fremon Craig also makes some brilliant directorial choices to allow the audience to see their own similarities to the tale. The fact that the principles attend Lakewood High School reminds me of a line from A Nightmare on Elm Street, "In every town, there's an Elm Street. My hometown in Colorado has a Lakewood High School, and I'm sure, most towns in the U.S. do, as well. The most striking stroke of relatability is the illustration that we are all struggling through our own unique journey, and there is no one among us to save us. Many teenagers believe that when they are an adult they will have all the answers and won't have to struggle through life so much, only to find out that it is only the circumstances with which one struggles with that changes. There is no rule book for understanding given once one becomes an adult, and there are never any easy answers no matter how o

"The Edge of Seventeen" (2016 release; 104 min.) brings the story of Nadine, a 17 yr. old junior at Lakewood HS. As the movie opens, Nadine is racing the school's hallways to meet with her favorite teacher and tell him "I'm going to kill myself!" The movie then goes back in time to see how we get to this point. After a short look at "Nadine, Age 7" and "Nadine, age 13", where we learn how socially awkward things are for Nadine, but for her strong friendship with her BFF Krista. That brings us to "Nadine, 17". At this point we're less than 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie is the directing debut for writer Kelly Fremon Craig (who wrote 2009's "Post Grad"). Here, Craig takes another shot at bringing the social awkwardness of being in high school and trying to survive all of the pressures that come with it. When was the last time that I've seen such an awkward teenager, who blurts out "I'm seeing myself and I can't stand it. I gotta spend the rest of my life with myself!". So nothing original here as such, except of course that Nadine is played by none other than Hailee Steinfeld, yes the little girl who was nominated of an Oscar in 2010 for "True Grit" is now grown up into a wonderful young lady which bunches of acting talent. Steinfeld basically carries the movie on her back, and is in virtually every single scene. There is some terrific support from Kyra Sedwick as Nadine's mom and Woody Harrelson as Nadine's teacher, but believe me when I say this is all about Hailee Steinfeld. Last but not least, the movie has a TON of great songs in it (check out the soundtrack).

"The Edge of Seventeen" opened nationally this past weekend. The Sunday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay but not great (about 10 people in the entire theater). This movie has not gotten a big marketing push, and it remains to be seen whether it will benefit from strong word-of-mouth. I quite enjoyed it for what it was, a strong vehicle for leading actress Hailee Steinfeld, even if the territory she explores here has been done before and doesn't offer all that much new. If you get a chance to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, I'd suggest you do and draw your own conclusion.

The Edge of Seventeen fmovies. I can't say that I expected to see this movie opening weekend, or at all for that matter. But I'm glad I did. The Edge of Seventeen is an awkwardly charming coming of age tale that flirts in the same vein as some classic John Hughes 80's flicks.

I think all of us have been keeping an eye on Hailee Steinfeld since True Grit in 2010. When you can steal scenery from the likes of Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin, you know you have someone special. The Edge of Seventeen is an entirely different genre and obstacle for Steinfeld, however. I almost think that the coming-of- age-teenage-angst-comedy-drama's are the most difficult films to reach a broad audience, perhaps even more so than westerns. I usually need something to hook me before I spend money on one of these, and that came by way of Woody Harrelson.

Harrelson play's Steinfeld's teacher and common companion at lunch when there's no one else to sit with. The brilliant thing about this relationship is that its neither too dramatic nor too goofy, the writers find a nice balance between gut busting laughs on Harrelson's end to a nice dramatic payoff in the latter half. For all the clichés that this film inevitably has, this relationship was something very refreshing and served as the highlights for most of the film.

Nadine (Steinfeld) has several issues with her mother, brother, and best friend to figure out throughout the course of the film. But it was pleasing to see that the writers didn't choose to make any one character in the right or wrong. I constantly felt like I was playing out both sides in my head as to who I believe had the right to be mad at the other or vice versa. Being in a family of 7, I can definitely relate to some of the family obstacles Nadine goes through, and it wasn't Hollywoodized just for the sake of pushing the plot forward. There's unfortunately quite a few clichéd tropes that this film ends up taking you toward, but it felt more natural than most of these types of films. This could be attributed to the welcomed R rating the film received.

It isn't for everyone, and I wouldn't even consider myself the target audience. But it speaks to larger personal and family issues than the trailer sets up. It's also one of the best Woody Harrelson performances I've seen recently, even if he is probably as reserved as he's ever been.

+Steinfeld carries this film

+With the help of the hilarious Harrelson

+Writing

-Inevitably some clichés and predictable plot points

8.0/10

Remember all those teen movies about how much fun it is to be a teenager? Porky's, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, all those American Pie movies and movies that spend an inordinate amount of time at the beach, to name a few. These are typical teenage movies. The Edge of Seventeen is not a typical teenage movie, and that is what makes it so great. Oh, there have been other great non-typical teenage films of late, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but somehow Seventeen stands alone.

Perhaps it is the intense and thoroughly committed performance of Hailee Steinfeld who started her film career under the tutelage of the Cohn Brothers in their remake of True Grit (oh yeah, and was nominated for an Oscar at the age of 14, although principle filming occurred while she was 13). Hailee so captures the angst of Nadine, whose name alone sets her apart, (Nadine was the most common name given to baby girls in 1958); that one cannot help but ache for her. Nadine carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and believes herself to be unlike any of the other kids who text each other about the tacos they're eating, and communicate in emojis.

She plays well alongside her favorite teacher, portrayed cheekily by Woody Harrelson who provides some of the best laughs in the film, as one might expect. Also of note, I think, is the quirky, lovable and downright cute performance of Hayden Szeto as Erwin. Erwin sits next to Nadine in class stumbling and bumbling his way through awkward repartee in the hopes of some sort of hook-up. But nothing is typical here, and the course that said repartee takes leads us into uncharted teen territory. It might also be interesting to note that the name Erwin was the most common baby name in 1918, which makes this Erwin an old soul, to be sure.

Kelly Fremon Craig has written a real gem here, and his first directing effort will earn him much critical acclaim, to be sure. The thing he does masterfully is take us inside the character of Nadine by giving us so many moments alone with her; moments when we experience in her stillness, in her eyes, and in her facial discipline as an actress the absolute bankruptcy of her isolation. None of us would want to be seventeen again, or ever; at least not her seventeen.

I am grateful to the studio, and to the Marcus Corporation for giving some of us movie lovers an opportunity to pre-screen this film that will be released on November 18th. I suppose they hope we will say good things about it and get others to go see the film. Well, go see the film. You will laugh, and you will need a few tissues, but you will not regret having spent a few hours walking in Nadine's shoes. Perhaps there is a little Nadine in all of us after all.

Nobody does high school coming of age movies better than the Americans. Ticks all the boxes, and Woody Harrelson is on form as usual.