‘Edge of Seventeen’ gives audiences humor and heart
By Drew Henderson// Staff Writer
On Valentines Day weekend, the decision to pick the movie fell to my girlfriend, and with that we watched “ The Edge of Seventeen.” What I thought would be another cliché coming-of-age teen movie actually became an engaging and well-acted movie about a teenage girl finding her place in the world after a rift with her best friend. By the end of the movie, I was more interested in it than my girlfriend; it goes to show that “The Edge of Seventeen” is one of those films that everyone will enjoy as its story, acting and heart make it a special film.
The two standouts in “The Edge of Seventeen” would have to be Haliee Steinfeld (“True Grit”), and Woody Harrelson (“The Hunger Games” and “True Detective”). Steinfeld as Nadine is interesting to watch as her character changes so much from the beginning to the end. As the movie begins, Nadine is a social outcast. In the film, there exist two groups: people who are successful and the people who want to see those successful people be miserable; she falls in the latter. Steinfeld is amazing as Nadine, as she truly makes you feel for Nadine. Every witty comment she makes is funny and every time something happens to her, you truly feel bad. Woody Harrelson is terrific as Mr. Bruner, almost award-worthy in my opinion, who serves as someone who kind of helps Nadine. Every time these two interact, the banter is hilarious as both have the same outlook on life and sense of humor. Even though he has such a small role, Harrelson makes the most of it and makes it memorable in the process.
The story has a certain heart that many films have been missing recently. In the wake of super heroes duking it out and other dark affairs, “Edge of Seventeen” gives us a classic high school story about losing a friend and what to do after the breakup of that friendship. “The Edge of Seventeen” starts with Nadine confessing her problems to Mr. Bruner about how her brother, who she is not on very good terms with, is dating her best friend she has known since she was young. What follows is the aftermath of that and how Nadine deals with it. While she deals with that, she is also dealing with an emotionally distressed mother, her brother, and trying to talk to the boy she has had a crush on for a while. It all perfectly wraps up in the end, but it feels deserved, never forced.
I wasn’t going to originally write a review about this movie. However, it just stood out to me so much that I had to write about it. “The Edge of Seventeen” harkens back to the 1980s, the era of teen movies, where the biggest problem was trying to get the girl or find a date to the prom. If you liked those types of movies, or want to try something else, I would recommend that you give “The Edge of Seventeen” a try. In the era of gritty reboots, or endless sea of superhero movies, “The Edge of Seventeen” injects some life and originality into endless sea of movies that is Hollywood.