The Edge of Seventeen: Movie Review

Kelly Fremon Craig makes her directorial debut with the intelligent coming of age comedy-drama, “The Edge of Seventeen”. Not since 2012’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” has there been a film centered on teenagers with this much heart.

Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) and Krista (Hayley Lu Richardson) have been best friends since childhood. Nadine always had trouble making friends but Krista always stuck by her side.  All of that changes however when Krista and Nadine’s all-star older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) start dating.  The siblings have always been at odds with each other and now that Darian is occupying the attention of his sister’s only friend, life for Nadine becomes increasingly difficult.

Nadine feels betrayed and makes it impossible for Krista to remain friends with her. Having nobody to talk to, Nadine annoys her history teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson) on his lunch beak every day.  With more time on her hands due to the lack of friends, Nadine decides to stalk Nick (Alexander Calvert) a boy at her high school that she is obsessed with.  She also finds herself spending time with Erwin (Hayden Szeto), an awkward boy in her class that is very much into Nadine.

What I loved about “The Edge of Seventeen” is just how layered each of the characters are.  In many high school set films, the teachers and parents feel like afterthoughts, but Harrelson’s Mr. Bruner has a lot more going for him than just a few clever sarcastic remarks.  Same goes for Nadine’s mother Mona (Kyra Sedgwick).  There are quite a few problems in Nadine’s home and although things are centered on her, we learn that not everyone else is living a perfect life.  Szeto is the stand-out here as Erwin.  He is just so amazing and funny and we hope that Nadine opens her eyes and takes notice.

It’s going to be very easy for “The Edge of Seventeen” to get lost in the multiplexes this holiday season and I am hoping that this isn’t the case.  Well crafted stories about teenagers are so few and far between and when they do come around they rarely get a wide release like this one. If it does fizzle at the box office, I am pretty confident that it will find its’ audience when it arrives on VOD.

By: Marc Ferman