Review of The Edge of Seventeen (2016) by Austin R — 06 Dec 2016

The Edge of Seventeen had a pretty bad trailer to be honest, so I wasn't anticipating anything that good prior to its release. Its critical acclaim caught my eye, though, and I'm glad that this movie came along.

With a sharp script and fantastic work from Hailee Steinfeld, this is a teen movie that doesn't feel sanitized or idealized, capturing the awkwardness, selfishness, and impulsiveness of its characters with largely hilarious results.

It may not be the most original movie, but when a filmmaker can make something like this feel fresh and new, that's a sign of something special. Nadine (Stenfield) is a junior in high school whose friendship with Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) has been her backbone since second grade and was especially helpful when her dad died almost four years ago.

However, Krista starts dating Nadine's older brother Darian (Blake Jenner), who Nadine has never gotten along with, causing a rift in the two girls' relationships and forcing the latter to figure herself out, with the occasional droll moral support from her history teacher (Woody Harrelson).

First-time writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig captures the arcs and interplay with a Diablo Cody-esque quickness to her dialogue along with an underlying sense of tribute to the work of John Hughes, and she captures their magic well.

In fact, speaking of Diablo Cody, the first movie that comes to mind in terms of comparison is Juno in the realism captured mixed with the wittiness that most movies don't accurately attribute to teens.

Having graduated from high school two and a half years ago and writing this as a 20-year-old, I can say that kids without a doubt do speak like what's depicted here, and it makes the movie all the more enjoyable to watch.

The treatment of language and sexuality makes it clear that this is a movie made for the sake of quality, not commodity, which I appreciate greatly--and is also made evident by the film's unfortunate box office numbers.

The actors all do very good jobs, namely Stenfield, who's effortlessly charming and emotionally affecting. (It's also a plus that she's 19 years old and easily passes for a high schooler.) I was aware of her likability thanks to her Oscar-nominated work in True Grit (2010) and later in Pitch Perfect 2, but this really cements not just her presence, but her talent.

Her performance alone makes it hard not to fall for this movie, and Harrelson, of course, plays his character's dry humor and dripping sarcasm very well. The movie is paced well and doesn't lose its air of realism over its 104-minute runtime, but the last 15 minutes or so aren't as fantastic as what came before it.

It's around the end of act two that the transition into more straightforward narrative drama shows to be slightly less engaging than the interplay and dialogue on display for a majority of the film.

There's also one thing that Nadine does towards the end of act two that seemed a bit extreme and uncalled for and it wasn't handled with a sense of self-awareness, but the movie still wraps up satisfyingly.

I do want to point at Blake Jenner, though, so as much as he does a good job here, he doesn't at all pass for a senior in high school. He's 24 years old and looks just as old if not older, and I had the same issue with him playing a character of a similar age earlier this year in Everybody Wants Some!!.

The Edge of Seventeen is one of the most pleasant surprises of 2016, and with this year being underwhelming in general, this currently sits at the edge of my favorite movies of the year so far. It's the type of teen movie that I wish was more common, being relatable and simple but also thoroughly engaging.

It hits some bumps towards the end, but this is still one of the most enjoyable movies of the year so far. 8.5/10, great, B+, definitely above average, etc.