‘Blu-ray or Bust’
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (2016, R, 105 minutes, GRACIE
FILMS/UNIVERSAL)
Ever since FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, Hollywood has tried
over and again to recreate what it was like to be in high school.
As if Hollywood ever attended public school…
Sometimes, they actually get something right; CLUELESS and
MEAN GIRLS had the sardonic wit to carry us through the caste systems of
secondary school, while THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER captured the struggles
and loves and losses which plagued us all. No, I am not including the AMERICAN
PIE films or even SUPERBAD (as brilliantly funny as that latter film was), as
those were just about stupid, horny dudes. High school was so much more than
that.
SEVENTEEN offers up the tale of Nadine, a high school junior
that hates everything in the world besides her best friend Krista. That is,
until Krista sleeps with Nadine’s hunky brother—then, her carefully constructed
hatred veneer begins to crumble. Hailee Steinfeld plays Nadine with an edge,
which hugs a really narrow line between ‘misunderstood’ and ‘downright
irritating’. In the hands of a lesser actress, this would have been a two-note
character: angry and bitter for ninety-eight percent of the film, crying to
show an emotional breakthrough in the rest. Yet, Steinfeld carries a certain
intelligence behind those old-soul eyes of hers. Don’t forget, this is the same
young lady who crushed her role in TRUE GRIT with a tenacity that threatened to
outshine her fellow cast mates, the majority of them veterans of the craft.
Woody Harrelson, her history professor, plays the only
person that knows how to talk to Nadine. His is a wit of such sarcasm and
banality that you wonder why he isn’t cast more often in comedies. Yes, he’s
had his share of funny lines in other films, but his delivery here makes him
nearly as memorable as Steinfeld herself, and he has much less screen time than
she.
As hard as the script tries to capture that high school
feeling, much of it is lost in the translation. Don’t go looking for FAST TIMES
or WALLFLOWER or even ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL; this story is all about
Nadine’s abrasive outlook on everything. How she seems to struggle with being a
girl until she finally just gives in to her immaturity and accepts that she is
not quite an adult yet. Which, when it happens, almost feels like a copout.
This is writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig’s first foray behind the camera, and
for a first time effort, it isn’t horrible. However, you get the feeling she
had something else to say towards the end there, but Hollywood said ‘nah’, and
so we get our usual crowd-pleasing ending.
The special features are disappointing at best—you get a gag
reel and three unnecessary deleted scenes. That’s it. Nothing about the
filmmaking or storytelling process, nothing telling us how Craig brought her
tale to the screen. For a film made on what was basically a shoestring budget—a
measly nine million—it’s enough to make you wonder if they didn’t have enough
money to make a behind-the-scenes doc or two. Kinda crappy.
The soundtrack alone makes this Blu-ray worthy, but if you
have a good enough sound system, it isn’t required viewing on the format.
Although it isn’t an instant classic, it does deserve to be on your shelf.
Somewhere between BRING IT ON and CHARLIE BARTLETT.
Film Grade: B
Special Features: D
Blu-ray Necessary: Not necessarily
- T.S. Kummelman
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