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The Edge of Seventeen
There are sporadic laughs and some solid performances, but the 2016 coming of age comedy-drama The Edge of Seventeen was hard to like primarily because of a central character who was really hard to like (not to mention other issues).
This film is about the seventeenth year on earth for a sullen teen named Nadine, who thought her life was over when her father passed away five years earlier. Nadine's junior year of high school finds her dealing with the fact that her BFF Krista has started dating her older brother Darian. Nadine is also dealing with her own obsession with a boy named Nick who works at Pet Mart but doesn't know that she's alive while a charming and brilliant film student named Irwin Kim thinks she's the best thing since sliced bread but she doesn't care.
Writer director Kelly Fremon Craig was clearly raised on the teen comedies of the 80's, the influence is everywhere here and she works very hard at coming up with something unique and she succeeds to a point, but her screenplay is just a little too busy and tries to cover way too much territory and because of that, this movie seems to go on forever.
But investing in this film was pretty difficult for me because it was really hard to invest in this really detestable character named Nadine. She is completely self-absorbed and can't sustain any real relationship because she wants everything her way. I understood her dismay regarding her best friend and her older brother, but when she forced Krista to choose between her or her brother, her likability began floating out the cinematic window and it left permanently when she stole her mother's car. And don't even get me started about the way she used and abused poor Irwin Kim. I was also bothered by the fact that Nadine paid very few consequences for her behavior and her transformation during the finale was just a little hard to believe after everything we witnessed prior to said transformation.
Despite everything mentioned, the most interesting relationship Nadine has in the movie is with a charming teacher, played to perfection by Woody Harrelson. I loved this relationship because this teacher saw right through Nadine ignoring her pleas for unwarranted attention but giving her attention when she needed. I also loved the fact that this relationship never crosses that line you expect it to in movies like this. These scenes were easily the most enjoyable part of the movie.
Hailee Stanfield gives a real movie star performance as Nadine but the character is so unlikable that you almost can't tell. Kyra Sedgewick was terrific as Nadine's mother and I absolutely LOVED Hayden Szeto as Irwin Kim. Kelly Fremon Craig works very hard at making something offbeat and special here, but for me, a bit of a let down.
There are sporadic laughs and some solid performances, but the 2016 coming of age comedy-drama The Edge of Seventeen was hard to like primarily because of a central character who was really hard to like (not to mention other issues).
This film is about the seventeenth year on earth for a sullen teen named Nadine, who thought her life was over when her father passed away five years earlier. Nadine's junior year of high school finds her dealing with the fact that her BFF Krista has started dating her older brother Darian. Nadine is also dealing with her own obsession with a boy named Nick who works at Pet Mart but doesn't know that she's alive while a charming and brilliant film student named Irwin Kim thinks she's the best thing since sliced bread but she doesn't care.
Writer director Kelly Fremon Craig was clearly raised on the teen comedies of the 80's, the influence is everywhere here and she works very hard at coming up with something unique and she succeeds to a point, but her screenplay is just a little too busy and tries to cover way too much territory and because of that, this movie seems to go on forever.
But investing in this film was pretty difficult for me because it was really hard to invest in this really detestable character named Nadine. She is completely self-absorbed and can't sustain any real relationship because she wants everything her way. I understood her dismay regarding her best friend and her older brother, but when she forced Krista to choose between her or her brother, her likability began floating out the cinematic window and it left permanently when she stole her mother's car. And don't even get me started about the way she used and abused poor Irwin Kim. I was also bothered by the fact that Nadine paid very few consequences for her behavior and her transformation during the finale was just a little hard to believe after everything we witnessed prior to said transformation.
Despite everything mentioned, the most interesting relationship Nadine has in the movie is with a charming teacher, played to perfection by Woody Harrelson. I loved this relationship because this teacher saw right through Nadine ignoring her pleas for unwarranted attention but giving her attention when she needed. I also loved the fact that this relationship never crosses that line you expect it to in movies like this. These scenes were easily the most enjoyable part of the movie.
Hailee Stanfield gives a real movie star performance as Nadine but the character is so unlikable that you almost can't tell. Kyra Sedgewick was terrific as Nadine's mother and I absolutely LOVED Hayden Szeto as Irwin Kim. Kelly Fremon Craig works very hard at making something offbeat and special here, but for me, a bit of a let down.