Film Review: ‘The Edge of Seventeen’

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Check out our film review of our HIGHLY recommended film – The Edge of Seventeen!

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The Edge of Seventeen
Stars: Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, Kyra Sedgwick, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, and Hayden Suzette
Writer/Director: Kelly Fremon Craig
Producers: James L. Brooks, Richard Sakai, and Julie Ansell
Release Date: November 18th, 2016

The Edge of Seventeen is a new coming-of-age movie in the vein of Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club – an honest, candid, often hilarious look at what it’s like to grow up as a young woman in today’s modern world.

Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) and Krista (Hayley Lu Richardson) are inseparable best friends attempting to navigate high school together…until they realize that there is a fine line between best friends and worst enemies.

The film also stars Blake Jenner as Nadine’s perfect brother, Kyra Sedgwick as her well-meaning but completely ineffective mother, and Woody Harrelson as her English teacher, mentor and reluctant sounding board.

Reviewer’s Thoughts: 
 

The Edge of Seventeen is the coming of age story you’ve been waiting for. It truly captured the essence of being a teenager in such an accurate way that hasn’t been seen in a long time. If you’re going to one film in the teenage dramedy genre, make it The Edge of Seventeen.

Hailee Steinfeld delivered a beautiful performance as Nadine, a teenage girl who struggles with virtually everything and everyone in her life. She plays Nadine in a raw, brutally honest and compelling way that’s sure to have all audiences rooting for her. There were so many moments while watching the film that I felt as if I were Nadine on that screen, because all of the emotions and events reminded me so vividly of my teenage years. The other actors also delivered fantastic performances, and I thought each one was cast brilliantly for their character.

Another aspect I loved of the film was the dialogue. The screenwriter didn’t shy away from using harsh, vulgar and dramatic dialogue that is way more realistic to how teenagers actually talk than the sugarcoated and sensationalized dialogue that’s often used in teen dramedies. The comedy as a result was spot-on, and elicited many laughs from the film critic audience I was a part of… and these guys are usually the tough ones. That’s ALWAYS a good sign. One aspect of the comedy I found peculiar in the film was that often the most comedic moments often took place during the film’s most dramatic scenes. But when you think about it, doesn’t life tend to happen that way? The banter between Hailee Steinfeld’s Nadine and her teacher, played perfectly by Woody Harrelson, was absolutely laugh-so-hard-you-cry inducing.

I can’t stress it enough – Go. See. This. Film.