by Emily Caldwell, staff reporter
I’ve always found coming-of-age movies enjoyable; usually highly improbable, but enjoyable. You have the classics, like The Breakfast Club and Dead Poets Society, but I also relish the quirky, smaller ones, like Camp and Easy A. That’s why I got really excited when I saw the trailer for The Edge Of Seventeen. The coming-of-age aspect of the film looked right up my alley, and for the first time I thought I was going to see a movie made for teens that was actually (collective gasp) realistic. Not that I don’t like sappy happy endings, trust me, I love them, but I also know what it’s like to be a real seventeen-year-old girl in high school.
As I began to look up showtimes, I noticed something. Cinemark wasn’t even playing this movie. I thought it was odd, because from what I could tell, the film had done a fair job of advertising (I first saw the trailer scrolling through my Facebook feed). Oh well, I’ll just make the 25 minute drive to Premiere in Bryan. I show up, and the movie is being showed in the smallest room in the theater. I sat down with my popcorn and my lemonade, and at that point honestly didn’t know what to expect anymore. Going into the movie, I already had doubts about Hailee Steinfeld’s acting ability to fully portray the main lead who (from the trailer and reading about the film I gathered) was supposed to be a typical teenage girl; i.e. very, very emotional. I knew Steinfeld’s performance would make or break this movie.
Despite a few mishap scenes and some awkward writing, she did not disappoint. The Edge of Seventeen is a story centered around Nadine Franklin (Steinfeld), her family, her friends, and basically just the ups and downs of growing up and finding your place. The main conflict is between Nadine, her hot older brother Darian (Blake Jenner), and her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). After Darian and Krista start to date, Nadine loses it, telling Krista that she has to choose between a relationship with her brother (who Nadine hates) and their friendship. This is four years after her dad died, and neither Nadine or her mother Mona (Kyra Sedgwick) seem to be over it. Nadine goes through dangerous encounters with sketchy dudes, a relationship with a snarky yet caring history teacher (Woody Harrelson), and too much alcohol before realizing: there are other people out there who care about me. At the end of the movie, we see her finally open up to others, which, in my opinion, is better than a sappy happy ending. Although there is some happy in there no doubt, the ending does not imply that all is fixed, merely that Nadine is getting there, which boosts my approval rating because the ‘all is fixed’ ending is what gives so many, too many movies that unrealistic feel.
If I was being critical, I would say the writing probably could’ve used some work. There were some times where better transitions were needed and some of the character’s lines were cringe-worthy. Many characters remained undeveloped, but I guess they didn’t really need to be developed if the whole movie was about Nadine and her growth. But, there was one character who made the entire movie worth it to me, and that was Erwin Kim (Hayden Szeto). Erwin was amazingly awkward and extremely relatable, even more so than Nadine. Erwin obviously has a crush on Nadine throughout the entire movie, and is always there for her when she needs someone to talk to or somewhere to run to. He remains a constant bright spot in the movie and in Nadine’s life, and serves as an escape from all of the other dramatic and dark things Nadine goes through.
Now, this movie is rated R for various reasons. There is some profanity and there are some scenes that you probably wouldn’t want to watch with your parents, but in all honesty high school is pretty R rated. The film did a very good job of not censoring out the ‘bad’ parts because life doesn’t censor out the ‘bad’ parts.
If you enjoy coming-of-age movies, rom-coms, or even just dramatic movies like me, go see it. If you don’t, this might not be the movie for you. It didn’t change my life, but it definitely stuck with me. It’s good to watch if you want to know what to expect, but also good to watch if you want to look back on those awkward years no one ever likes to talk about. For the young and the old, it helps you stay on the edge of seventeen.
