Another scintillating performance from Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) is one of the distinguishing features of The Edge of Seventeen, a first rate coming-of-age story that also features Woody Harrelson in a memorable role.
Growing up is the great equaliser. No matter your family situation, walk of life, or specific personal experience, anyone who has gone through adolescence understands the growing pains and awkwardness that go with the territory. I am specifically referring to navigating the transition to adulthood. The times change, the modes of communication evolve, but some things – like the first pangs of love, or the sting of a friend’s betrayal – never change. Creating a film about maturing in our digital age took someone who could poignantly capture the voice of the generation. This is a refreshingly authentic voice from writer and first time director Kelly Fremon Craig.
Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) is a different cat. She feels awkward and doesn’t fit in, unlike her older, handsome brother Darian (Blake Jenner), who has always managed to draw people to him. From her youngest days at school, Nadine was picked on. She was the one with no friends … until Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) came her way. The two quickly became inseparable besties, before attempting to navigate high school together. Nadine remains unlike others, but Krista was solid as a rock beside her all the way … until Krista hooked up with Darian, leaving Nadine mortified. That rocks Nadine’s world. She takes it as a personal slight and even forces Krista to choose between her brother and her. Nadine is bruised and makes her mother’s (Krya Sedgwick) life even harder than she already had it. She leans upon an unlikely mentor, her History teacher, Mr Bruner (Woody Harrelson), who she constantly challenges.
Kelly Fremon Craig was inspired to craft The Edge of Seventeen by the “authentic teen films” of her youth. She says she had always been intrigued by periods of rapid emotional growth and self-examination. Fremon Craig is referring to times of situational change, which force us to step into new roles and look again at who we are and how we feel about ourselves. “I started this project in an effort to try to capture this particular age and generation as truthfully as I could, and with a respect for the complexity and messiness of it all. Passing from youth to adulthood is intense and terrifying and beautiful, and in many ways the experience of anyone, any age, shedding their old self and becoming?new. I wanted to explore? that.”
The dialogue in the movie is particularly raw, especially from the main character, Nadine. Steinfeld gives a great, “look at me” performance, in turn childish, petulant, autocratic and irritating. She is oh-so engaging throughout, the dominant force that dictates events from the get go. Harrelson is delightful and nuanced as the teacher who has to hold it together amidst Nadine’s constant fits of pique. He plays a straight bat to her cries for help. Talking of that, the opening scene between Harrelson and Steinfeld is one of the priceless moments in the picture and truly sets the scene for what follows.
Fremon Craig has done an excellent job in giving The Edge of Seventeen humour, heart and pathos – moving, seemingly effortless, between the three. If this is a portent of what is to come, I will be following her work with a great sense of anticipation. The film has far more going for it than the vast majority of “growing up” flicks and for that I am entirely grateful. Rated M, it scores a 7½ to an 8 out of 10.
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig
Cast: Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, Blake Jenner
Release Date: 5 January 2017
Rated: M
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television