The Edge Of Seventeen review: Hailee Steinfeld turns in a fine, charismatic performance in this coming of age tale.
The Edge Of Seventeen review, by Paul Heath.
Image: eOne
Hailee Steinfeld shines in this coming of age, teenage angst tale that manages to engross you from the off with its magnetic ensemble performances, witty screenplay and wonderful direction.
Steinfeld plays 17-year-old Nadine, a troubled teenager whose life takes an unfortunate turn when her life-long best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) starts to date her older brother, Darian (Blake Jenner). She also has an equally troubled mother, a superb off-the-grid Kyra Sedgwick, to contend with, and the unwanted attractions from classmate Erwin (Hayden Szeto). Then there’s Woody Harrelson‘s sympathetic, though brutally honest Mr. Bruner who seems to get the brunt of Nadine’s pain on a daily basis.
Image: eOne
We are very much used to seeing tales of teenagers struggling with moving from adolescence into young adulthood from a male point of view, but one struggles to offer up one told from a female POV – well, a decent one anyway. Here, writer/ director Kelly Fremon Craig does just that with The Edge Of Seventeen – a fresh, expertly told tale that provokes familiar feelings throughout.
Since her big-screen debut in the Coen brothers’ redo of True Grit, the now 19-year-old Steinfeld has carved herself out an interesting path in terms of her choices. With turns in action fare like Barely Lethal, sci-fi work in Ender’s Game and an introduction to mainstream comedy with last year’s Pitch Perfect 2, the actress has always been good, but she’s never been better than she is here. Her quirky, though sympathetic turn as Nadine is nigh on perfect, and she’s backed by solid turns from the young actors playing her peers, as well as the spot-on turns from Sedgwick and Harrelson as her mother and teacher/ father figure respectively.
Image: eOne
James L. Brooks produces the film, and his influence is evident, but this is a unique film that is attracting more and more attention since it debuted at September’s Toronto International Film Festival – and rightly so. It is well constructed, heartfelt, and moving, but most of all it’s supremely funny throughout with a smart, stunning, star-making breakthrough turn from its brilliant lead actress. Just brilliant.
The Edge Of Seventeen review by Paul Heath, November 2016.
The Edge Of Seventeen is released across the Uk on Friday 2nd December 2016.
