Blu-Ray Review: THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN

Starring Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Woody Harrelson, Blake Jenner, Hayden Szeto, Kyra Sedgwick. Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig. (2016, 105 min).

UNIVERSAL

About halfway through watching The Edge of Seventeen, my wife commented that the main character, Nadine Franklin (Hailee Steinfeld) isn't always particularly likable. In fact, she's downright mean on occasion.

It's an accurate character assessment, which is also the chief reason the film works as well as it does. As a teacher and a father of two daughters, I know from experience that teenagers aren't always pleasant to be around. They can be irrational, emotionally turbulent and as self-absorbed as a cat. They're capable of dumb decisions, hurting the ones they love and displaying little in the way of common sense. Even they don't always know what's going on in their heads. 

And for some kids, high school is a living hell. 

When you tell your kids to put down their phones and go outside.

Nadine is an emotional trainwreck, especially after her father dies. Her mother doesn't understand her, nor does her hunky, popular older brother, Darian (Blake Jenner). She feels alienated from almost everyone in her life, which is exasperated when her best friend, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) begins dating Darian. Nadine is so wrapped up in her own insecurities that she is dismissive of the affections of Erwin (Hayden Szeto), and feels the only person who understands her is Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson), a laid-back social studies teacher.

"You gonna eat that Twinkie?"

Imagine Sixteen Candles with real, flesh & blood human beings rather than cartoon caricatures and you'll have a good idea how this one plays. While the film is often extraordinarily funny (the interplay between Harrelson and Steinfeld is priceless), the more serious moments work so well because, when you're a teenager, every crisis and conflict feels utterly life-altering.

Writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig, whether drawing from personal experience or not, remembers exactly how it feels like to be a socially awkward teenager, which The Edge of Seventeen conveys very well. The dialogue and actions of all these characters are authentic and genuine. As for Nadine...we may not always like her, but we all know someone just like her. Perhaps some of us have even been her, making it easy to throw a bit of empathy her way.

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