The Edge of Seventeen Is
an Instant Teen Classic
an Instant Teen Classic
Teenagers, you might have heard,
can be a bit of a handful. Feed them into the Hollywood-movie machine, though,
and their problems usually get solved—broken friendships are healed, potential
romances are consummated, important life lessons are learned. But the director
Kelly Fremon Craig’s debut film The Edge of Seventeen feints
away from every adolescent cliché to create something far more wholly realized.
The result is a story of young adulthood that isn’t afraid to be abrasive and
emotionally confusing, while also making space for rare instances of vulnerability
and tenderness.
can be a bit of a handful. Feed them into the Hollywood-movie machine, though,
and their problems usually get solved—broken friendships are healed, potential
romances are consummated, important life lessons are learned. But the director
Kelly Fremon Craig’s debut film The Edge of Seventeen feints
away from every adolescent cliché to create something far more wholly realized.
The result is a story of young adulthood that isn’t afraid to be abrasive and
emotionally confusing, while also making space for rare instances of vulnerability
and tenderness.
The Edge of Seventeen is
a sharp portrait of a 17-year-old roiled by hormones and emotions. Craig is
candid about what a nightmare her protagonist Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) can be.
Nadine is prone to moments of cruelty or gracelessness, and proves at times to
be incapable of self-awareness, despite her obvious intelligence. She’s
frustrating, but she also feels like an authentic person, which makes it easy
to be invested in her many misadventures throughout the school year. As an R-rated,
small-budget dramedy, the movie might get buried in cinemas by a slew of
Thanksgiving blockbusters, but it seems destined for a long shelf life as a
young-adult classic.
a sharp portrait of a 17-year-old roiled by hormones and emotions. Craig is
candid about what a nightmare her protagonist Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) can be.
Nadine is prone to moments of cruelty or gracelessness, and proves at times to
be incapable of self-awareness, despite her obvious intelligence. She’s
frustrating, but she also feels like an authentic person, which makes it easy
to be invested in her many misadventures throughout the school year. As an R-rated,
small-budget dramedy, the movie might get buried in cinemas by a slew of
Thanksgiving blockbusters, but it seems destined for a long shelf life as a
young-adult classic.
Craig’s first stroke of genius is
in not defining Nadine as any particular type of outcast. She’s just a little
too acerbic to fit in, but she’s also clearly uninterested in modulating her
personality to blend into the background. Nadine has a bit of a dark edge,
partly because her father (Eric Keenleyside) died a few years earlier, but, she
notes, that trauma seemingly drove her jock brother Darian (Blake Jenner) to
become even more popular. Nadine’s best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), a
more “normal” classmate, helps keep her afloat, but that uneasy peace implodes
when Krista and Darian begin dating at the start of the film.
in not defining Nadine as any particular type of outcast. She’s just a little
too acerbic to fit in, but she’s also clearly uninterested in modulating her
personality to blend into the background. Nadine has a bit of a dark edge,
partly because her father (Eric Keenleyside) died a few years earlier, but, she
notes, that trauma seemingly drove her jock brother Darian (Blake Jenner) to
become even more popular. Nadine’s best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), a
more “normal” classmate, helps keep her afloat, but that uneasy peace implodes
when Krista and Darian begin dating at the start of the film.
From there on, The Edge
of Seventeen is a delightful mix of foul-mouthed and grumpy comedy,
small-scale self-destructiveness, and tentative romance. Nadine cuts off her
relationship with Krista, and the psychic scars begin to show, as she forges a
new friendship with Erwin (Hayden Szeto), a rich Asian boy at her school who
has his own credible disaffections. The film doesn’t have any wild dramatic
twists or moments of terrible danger. Instead, it tries to put the viewer
firmly into Nadine’s discombobulated headspace and have them sympathize every
time she lashes out—not because she’s in the right, but because most people
felt the same at some point in their youth.
of Seventeen is a delightful mix of foul-mouthed and grumpy comedy,
small-scale self-destructiveness, and tentative romance. Nadine cuts off her
relationship with Krista, and the psychic scars begin to show, as she forges a
new friendship with Erwin (Hayden Szeto), a rich Asian boy at her school who
has his own credible disaffections. The film doesn’t have any wild dramatic
twists or moments of terrible danger. Instead, it tries to put the viewer
firmly into Nadine’s discombobulated headspace and have them sympathize every
time she lashes out—not because she’s in the right, but because most people
felt the same at some point in their youth.
Steinfeld helps Craig’s wonderful
script along by giving a superb lead performance, one that finally delivers on
the tremendous promise she showed in her Oscar-nominated turn in the Coen Brothers’ True
Grit (2010). Where that movie’s vengeful Mattie Ross was stoic and
single-minded, Nadine is passionate and misdirected. Steinfeld manages to
powerfully convey Nadine’s emotions, even if the character herself isn’t always
in touch with how she feels. Since the film is relatively light on plot,
Steinfeld has to bear the burden of keeping The Edge of Seventeen compelling.
She does so perfectly.
script along by giving a superb lead performance, one that finally delivers on
the tremendous promise she showed in her Oscar-nominated turn in the Coen Brothers’ True
Grit (2010). Where that movie’s vengeful Mattie Ross was stoic and
single-minded, Nadine is passionate and misdirected. Steinfeld manages to
powerfully convey Nadine’s emotions, even if the character herself isn’t always
in touch with how she feels. Since the film is relatively light on plot,
Steinfeld has to bear the burden of keeping The Edge of Seventeen compelling.
She does so perfectly.
The supporting cast certainly
helps—Jenner (who played a more charming doofus in Everybody Wants
Some!! this year) is perfectly inscrutable as Nadine’s older brother,
who’s frustrated with his sister’s mood swings. Woody Harrelson, handed the
supreme cliché role of cliché roles (as the wise teacher Mr. Bruner), is a
hilariously mean foil for Nadine as an educator whose compassion has been
chipped away at by years of experience in the public-school system. As the
straight-arrow Erwin, who’s clearly interested in Nadine but has no idea how to
snap her out of her various reveries, Szeto is a delight, as well as a
refreshing choice for a romantic lead in a genre that usually relegates Asian
performers to sidekick roles.
helps—Jenner (who played a more charming doofus in Everybody Wants
Some!! this year) is perfectly inscrutable as Nadine’s older brother,
who’s frustrated with his sister’s mood swings. Woody Harrelson, handed the
supreme cliché role of cliché roles (as the wise teacher Mr. Bruner), is a
hilariously mean foil for Nadine as an educator whose compassion has been
chipped away at by years of experience in the public-school system. As the
straight-arrow Erwin, who’s clearly interested in Nadine but has no idea how to
snap her out of her various reveries, Szeto is a delight, as well as a
refreshing choice for a romantic lead in a genre that usually relegates Asian
performers to sidekick roles.
But The Edge of Seventeen begins
and ends with Nadine, the kind of character you might wish you could pull off
the screen just to shake some sense into her. Craig builds out her emotional
arc slowly but surely, contextualizing Nadine’s depression and her cynicism
through flashbacks in a way that never feels patronizing. She’s
unpredictable—and can be rude and insightful within the same sentence. But more
than anything, she’s someone to root for, because she’s portrayed as a complex
person, not as a representative for a whole demographic. This is a movie about
a teen, first and foremost, rather than a “teen movie,” and that’s exactly what
makes it feel like a peerless example for the genre
and ends with Nadine, the kind of character you might wish you could pull off
the screen just to shake some sense into her. Craig builds out her emotional
arc slowly but surely, contextualizing Nadine’s depression and her cynicism
through flashbacks in a way that never feels patronizing. She’s
unpredictable—and can be rude and insightful within the same sentence. But more
than anything, she’s someone to root for, because she’s portrayed as a complex
person, not as a representative for a whole demographic. This is a movie about
a teen, first and foremost, rather than a “teen movie,” and that’s exactly what
makes it feel like a peerless example for the genre
Keyword: The Edge of Seventeen, ekkadiki
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pothavu chinnavada, force 2, i am not madame bovary, life on the line, movie
tavern, century 16, bleed for this, carmike, sahasam swasaga sagipo, emagine
canton, cinemark 18, time stands still, tinseltown movie times, harkins theater.
shut in, moonlight, hasta el último hombre, williamsburg cinemas, la llegada, starplex,
springfield 11, almost christmas, arrival, santhu straight forward, bastille
day,
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