The Edge of Seventeen is a movie about a depressed 17 year old asshole whose world is collapsing around her due to a few made up problems to make everything about her.
Hailee Steinfeld, last seen a few years ago in the True Grit remake as a toddler, plays the main protagonist in this 103 minute long movie that feels like it goes way longer than it does.
The comedy throughout the film is funny and on point, but it only does so much to cover the fact that this movie is accurately portraying a teenager. AKA, someone who doesn’t realise that other people have problems. The film is of course a sort of emotional coming of age story, and the resolution is well done, for every character involved in this “week in the life of” story.
Sometimes I was left wondering if the humour was supposed to be on the Juno level of overly intelligent wisecracking teenager, but instead comes out as mean spirited. But once again, this is an accurate portrayal of a teenager as far as I’m concerned.
Hidden gem Hayden Szeto does a standout performance as the dorky guy, perfectly encapsulating awkwardness to the point where you’re both cringing off your seat and also laughing off it at the same time.
Woody Harrelson plays the exact same school teacher that Jon Bernthal played in Me, Earl & the Dying Girl, and the film is better for it.
“I like how it showed how much big house parties suck.” Said Matt, our resident professional with an opinion. “Also, I like literally every other character more than the protagonist.”
Talking about other peoples opinions, I may have found the new worst sort of people to be sitting near at the cinema, Two Middle Aged Women. Two Middle Aged Women is a singular unit that moves in tandem together, normally seen holding a glass of cheap wine. These two will then enhance the movie experience with run up commentary said to each other in a normal talking voice. They believe that since they paid to see a movie they are allowed to experience it in any way they like, at the expense of all others. This belief does not extend to the person kicking the shit out of their seat behind them out of frustration.
Back to the movie, Two Middle Aged Women seemed to enjoy it, from the sounds of their commentary, Matt was a mixed bag of emotions, and I was of a similiar mind. Afterwards when we were eating burgers, reclaiming our manhood, and hassling the waiter for putting a lemon in my bourbon we came to the conclusion that making movies about assholes is a double edged sword. On one hand they’re a drag to watch, but at the same time you need them around so you can drag people to them and go “Look, I told you you’d like it, that person is you, that’s what you’re like! See how long the movie felt?? That’s how time feels when we’re around you.”
The film was aight, but you should know what you’re going into before giving it a go.