The Edge of Seventeen

Coming of age movies tend to have a challenge of presenting a story about its main characters going through issues that the audience can relate to. I enjoy watching these kind of movies as they have their own environment and writing style to work with. I am very familiar with the old school John Hughes' movies like Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off as they have a spot in my heart for their likable character stereotypes, slight exaggeration of their antics, and how real their personal issues are connecting to modern times. There are also some modern high school movies that use this exact formula to its own flare such as Juno, Superbad, and Dope. Almost all of these movies are more comedic than serious in their tone. However, when I saw the trailer of The Edge of Seventeen, it shown a new entry to the genre that looks more serious than comedic. After hearing great buzz from my sources, I went in ready to see what kind of an impact it will have on me and I left the auditorium excited to say that it's another favorite coming of age movie with smart dialogue and great realism.

Plot: The story follows a high school girl who has always had trouble connecting with people and had a tragedy occur when she was younger, further straining those relationships with her family and friends. It follows her reacting to an internal struggle with what she wants versus what she needs and how it affects her friendships and her family. This kind of journey is tested when her best friend starts dating her brother. It follows her going through some predictable situations you would expect some teenagers to go through but treats it well with some harsh realism thrown in. The story is affected mainly by her interactions with classmates, family, and a teacher while she undergoes her internal struggle of the high school saga. These interactions are mixed with both great humor and seriousness in a wonderful balance. Overall while the story uses predictable situations like from those of John Hughes, it's presented in truthful manner whether it's comedic, serious, or even awkward for someone in high school.

Characters: The characters are Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson), Darian (Blake Jenner), Erwin Kim (Hayden Szeto), Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), and Mona (Kyra Sedgwick). Nadine is the central character to the story and typically lashes out smart aleck insults to classmates and family. She has a cynical view on life ever since she was little and Hailee's portrayal of her perfectly captures the experience of a high school teenagers struggles. She is a drama queen about it and undergoes her own identity crisis. Mr Bruner is Nadine's high school teacher she approaches to dump all of her problems onto during lunch. He basically says all the things that high school teachers would get fired for saying. Woody is very entertaining in his interactions with Nadine and is a helping hand on occasion. Darian is Nadine's golden-boy older brother and has the typical "hate you but love you" sibling situation. Blake doesn't have much screen time as the story goes on but does a great job especially at the end with his portrayal of this character. Krista is Nadine's best friend who gets into a relationship with Darian, which create awkwardness between her and Nadine. Her screen time is also limited but the character is given enough information needed at the beginning to make Haley's performance of the character work well. Erwin is another awkward high schooler in the same class as Nadine and his interactions with her are adorable as well as relatable to watch. Hayden does a great job with working his charm into this role, which is given a little more depth as the story moves on. Mona is Nadine's mother, whom she has a strained relationship with. Kyra also does a great job as a mother trying to understand her moody and snarky daughter. Overall the characters and casting do an incredible job in making this R rated coming of age story relatable and worth watching.

Overall Consensus: The Edge of Seventeen takes the coming of age foundation from old John Hughes movies and modernizes it with a talented main cast portraying relatable characters while forming realistic insecurities for the main protagonist to overcome. ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ 🍿

Reasons to watch it: You are interesting in watch a coming of age story. You want to see a rated R high school movie with great characters and smart writing. You want to see the struggling times of high school students to reminisce about your own. You want to find a coming of age movie for a date night that will make you laugh and cry. You like any of the aforementioned actors.

Reasons to avoid it: You don't like coming of age movies. You don't like high school movies that make you reminisce about your own high school experiences. You don't like any of the aforementioned actors.