The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

[SeanC]

Hey, a teen drama.  There aren't many of those these days, let alone rated R.

The boldest and most welcome choice made by writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig is her willingness to allow Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) to behave very unlikeably most of the time. The stereotypical troubled teen protagonist in fiction is generally cast an an appealing outsider, but while Nadine may have the standard love of cynical commentary, she comes across like she'd be rather unpleasant to be around for most of the film as she spirals downward. Craig successfully banks on Steinfeld's considerable acting chops to make the character sympathetic, as the audience understands the sources of her poor psychological situation.

The secondary characters in the film are perhaps a tad underdeveloped in comparison to the protagonist (this is very much her story), but all are appealingly played by actors like Blake Jenner, Haley Lu Richardson, and Hayden Szeto. The ending, as well, is a little abrupt in its tonal shift.

[raezen]

So, is it official that Woody Harrelson has decided he will always play Haymitch opposite pretty, dark haired teenagers?

[methodwriter85]

I didn't see much of Haymitch in this part. Haymitch was at his core a very damaged, dysfunctional soul. The teacher was sarcastic, but overall he was a functional adult.

I'm bummed this isn't doing that well. No wonder why Hollywood doesn't really make movies like this anymore  It'll do at least a little bit better than the Spectacular Now did, another R-rated teen drama from this decade.

Quote

The boldest and most welcome choice made by writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig is her willingness to allow Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) to behave very unlikeably most of the time. The stereotypical troubled teen protagonist in fiction is generally cast an an appealing outsider, but while Nadine may have the standard love of cynical commentary, she comes across like she'd be rather unpleasant to be around for most of the film as she spirals downward.

Completely different circumstances, but I had that breakthrough of "it's not just about you" when I was on a team camping trip senior year and I decided to be angsty and not show up to the meeting point where our coaches were supposed to take us back from the beach and to our campground. The younger coaches found me, and I was ripped a new one. Then I moped some more the next morning and held up the bus leaving to go back to our state, and I got ripped a new by the head coach and suspended from the team for a week.

I didn't really think that much about how I affected other people until then, because I pretty much felt like my own angst was the only thing that counted. This movie REALLY captured that mindset, and how exhausting it is for the people around you when you hate yourself so much that you only care about how angry and depressed you are.

And again, it's a shame that no one's seeing this, and that we're stuck with dumb-looking teen romance dramas like a 25-year old "teen" girl falling in love with Martian.

Edited November 21, 2016 by methodwriter85

[SeanC]

14 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

And again, it's a shame that no one's seeing this, and that we're stuck with dumb-looking teen romance dramas like a 25-year old "teen" girl falling in love with Martian.

There was a trailer for that with this.  The premise that we colonized Mars and apparently nobody on Earth knows about it kind of broke my brain.

[wlk68]

I really enjoyed this. Was I the only one who thought that Nadine was just like her mother and perhaps that was why they constantly clashed?

Also glad Nadine realized what cutie pie Erwin was. Way better than the 'bad boy' she spent most of the movie emo-ing over.

[methodwriter85]

I just cringed so hard during the sequence of Nadine being so excited for her "date" because she thought it was a date and didn't get that he only wanted a booty call until he pulled her panties down and was unbuttoning his jeans. Kind of reminded me of when I was getting hugged by a guy I thought was a friend...until he started putting his tongue in my mouth and hands down my pants.

One touch I really liked is that when her mother and Darian are arguing about how to handle Nadine- the mom wanting to pack up all of her stuff and ship it to Goodwill, and Darian trying to talk her down. It looked all for the world like Darian was the dad and emphasized what a fucked up dynamic had developed in the house after the actual dad died.

Blake Jenner has seriously improved since his Glee days. I guess spending some time in Richard Linklater-land taught him how to act?

Edited November 26, 2016 by methodwriter85

[SeanC]

1 hour ago, methodwriter85 said:

Blake Jenner has seriously improved since his Glee days. I guess spending some time in Richard Linklater-land taught him how to act?

Glee was not exactly a good measure of an actor's talent, given how slack the production was.  Well, I guess that anybody who actually came across well on the show was exceptionally talented, but it's easy to imagine somebody with raw talent getting totally lost there.

1 hour ago, methodwriter85 said:

I just cringed so hard during the sequence of Nadine being so excited for her "date" because she thought it was a date and didn't get that he only wanted a booty call until he pulled her panties down and was unbuttoning his jeans. 

In the guy's modest defense, a booty call is an entirely reasonable interpretation of the message she sent him.

That whole scene was super-tense.  It was easy to imagine that ending much, much worse than it did (it's a credit to the filmmakers to make the audience think that could actually happen, though; shows they've built audience investment in Nadine).

Edited November 27, 2016 by SeanC

[methodwriter85]

Heh. The movie held up decently at the box office. It's now made 10 million. Still much less than what it should have been, but at least the movie has made back its production budget. This will definitely be something that's going to find its audience as time goes on.

[raezen]

I'm hoping to see this movie tomorrow and just found out that if I want to my only option is at 4:30. No later showing . It's an r-rated film, what are they thinking ? 

[SnoGirl]

I just watched this on Amazon, and I could think of was poor Nadine and Darrin. I know she was spiraling and unpleasant but man, talk about traumatized kids. She watched her Dad die and then on top of it, her Mom didn't support her or Darrin for that matter.

I do wish Darrin was in the movie more, he came off like such a dick to Nadine until he stopped the Mom from packing up her stuff. I do think it was kinda rough that he and the best friend got together. I know it was the whole basis for the movie, but how did they both think Nadine was going to react? 

I did love Harrelson as the teacher. I liked the look of panic he had when Nadine slowly moved his stuff and put her legs on his desk. I was REALLY hoping they weren't going to do the teacher/student trope and was super happy they didnt. I do wonder how she got a hold of him to get picked up.  I did like that he was unmarried with a baby and relationship, and his students didnt know. 

I did not like the abrupt ending. I wish there was like 20 more minutes for Nadine to talk to her Mom and her friend. Or, more of her and Darrin. I wish Krista wasnt there the next morning and he was making breakfast for his baby sister.

[Perfect Xero]

On 3/1/2017 at 2:50 PM, SnoGirl said:

I do wish Darrin was in the movie more, he came off like such a dick to Nadine until he stopped the Mom from packing up her stuff. I do think it was kinda rough that he and the best friend got together. I know it was the whole basis for the movie, but how did they both think Nadine was going to react? 

I didn't think that Darian came off like a 'dick' toward her, or, rather, Nadine was so bloody nasty and awful toward him that it was hard not to see anything from Darian as an understandable response.

It's not like she has some compelling reason to hate her brother, some great wrong or injury that he'd committed against her. So, what, is Krista not supposed to date someone she likes because her friend is going to turn controlling and emotionally abusive over it?

I don't know, I felt like I was watching a movie about someone with an undiagnosed disorder or something that would require serious treatment, but then her brother tells him that life sucks for him too, they hug it out, and she's suddenly nice and outgoing the next morning?

[sacrebleu]

Quote

It's not like she has some compelling reason to hate her brother, some great wrong or injury that he'd committed against her.

Not necessarily compelling-- but understandable. (and not hate per se, but resentment) For their entire existence-- Darian was the 'good' kid and Nadine the mess. He had no awkward age. He was good at sports, had plenty of friends (and then her only friend 'picked' Darian over her). To Nadine, his life was easy and hers was hard. (exemplified by the kid at the party who compared them to the Schwarzenegger/DeVito Twins movie)

Mom liked him best, and while Dad was on her side-- once dad was gone-- she not only lost her dad, she lost one of the only people 'on her side.'

[Perfect Xero]

3 hours ago, sacrebleu said:

Not necessarily compelling-- but understandable. (and not hate per se, but resentment) For their entire existence-- Darian was the 'good' kid and Nadine the mess. He had no awkward age. He was good at sports, had plenty of friends (and then her only friend 'picked' Darian over her). To Nadine, his life was easy and hers was hard. (exemplified by the kid at the party who compared them to the Schwarzenegger/DeVito Twins movie)

Mom liked him best, and while Dad was on her side-- once dad was gone-- she not only lost her dad, she lost one of the only people 'on her side.'

There's resenting your brother, then there's threatening to call the police and falsely accuse him of raping you because he did the same thing you did and had friends over while mom was out of town.

There's not wanting your friend to date your brother, and then there's throwing a shoe in the middle of a restaurant because she doesn't say what you want to hear.

These things are hateful and abusive and well beyond the range of understandable reactions to your sibling being popular and good looking.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Perfect Xero