There are so many films that come out every week let alone every year, aren’t there? We can get so caught up with trying to keep up with the latest awards contenders, box office hits, and culturally relevant pieces that we just don’t have enough time to turn back the clock and check out films from the past. But it is so important to expand our horizons and experience the art that has set the stage for today’s cinema. You might need to find the time, so it is important to make wise choices with what you spend that time watching. Whether we head back 10 years, 50 years, or even 100 years, there is great cinema throughout the years. But let’s rewind the clock and here are some reasons why you should check out… The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
| Directed by: Kelly Fremon Craig Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Haley Lu Richardson, Blake Jenner, Kyra Sedgwick, Woody Harrelson |
Kelly Fremon Craig
I think it might be official, but Fremon Craig is showing she might be the best storyteller of coming-of-age tales of this generation. The 80s had John Hughes and Fremon Craig might be that for the 2010s into the 2020s. She has a deft touch in balancing the awkward and darkly funny nature of the world with deep and resonant emotions. There are plenty of laughs in The Edge of Seventeen. But what makes them so genuine is that they live in the awkwardness of life as well as human nature. You cannot help but laugh because they are so uncomfortably relatable. But there are plenty of moving moments as well including the scene where Nadine loses her dad (this scene gets me EVERYTIME).
Coming of Age
This film is just so darn relatable. We have all experienced those growing pains (even if we didn’t look like Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite like Nadine). We can probably think of that friend who was always your go-to. How this film deals with siblings is just so poignant. There are underlying (sometimes overt) senses of competition. There is also the awkwardness of how parents connect to one sibling or another. Nadine and Darian are the perfect examples of opposite siblings that develop resentment. There is also such a refined way the film handles themes of grief as well. You feel it and the lasting trauma that haunts this family. Friendships, sex, dating, and so much more get expert treatment in this film.
Hailee Steinfeld
Ever since True Grit, we have all known that Steinfeld was a star. Her star is still rising with Spider-Verse and Hawkeye as she is becoming such a giant star. But this film shows so much in the way that Steinfeld is a talented actor. She shows so many layers in Nadine with her going from awkward to joyous to paralyzingly sad to angry. Nadine is sent through so much trauma in this film and Steinfeld can rise to every occasion and scene. There is maturity in the way that she can maneuver from one emotion to another. Also…she has so much charisma and a great sense of humor.
Woody Harrelson
Speaking of sense of humor…Harrelson might deliver one of the best examples of comic relief in a film in recent memory. His sarcastic banter with Steinfeld is top-notch. There is so much chemistry between the two of them, especially during their lunchtime chats. Harrelson never goes too big with his performance but instead sticks with a subtler and biting turn that is a perfect foil to Nadine’s nervous and frenetic energy. One of the nicest things too is that there is more depth to Harrelson’s character (despite what Nadine seems to assume).
