The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

Yes Hailee Steinfeld exudes charisma and has the chops to carry each scene, the entire movie, all by herself. Yes a movie starring her about teenage angst should be something beyond the average teenage angst movie. Is that movie The Edge of Seventeen? Not really. The film has a great deal of potential but keeps falling into predictable and rather boring traps.

The biggest problem with The Edge of Seventeen is that is feels like it's always trying too hard. From the oh-too-cool costumes, to the "edgy" camera angles, to the clever banter between characters, The Edge of Seventeen thinks it's hipper and more original than it is. But its plot keeps falling into safe territory where things work out like we expect. Its dialogue, for all it's hip repartee, is overt and obvious. They avoid anything too difficult, asking the audience to fill in gaps. And then it all gets wrapped up predictably easily. The Edge of Seventeen feels like we've seen it all before.

And there's an uncomfortable thread running through the film of how Steinfeld's character ignores the incredibly hot and perfect asian guy (Hayden Szeto playing Erwin) who crushes on her, fascinating on a terribly uninteresting white kid instead. The only reason that there appears to be for why we aren't supposed to see the asian guy as a viable love interest is... well... cause he's asian. Sure she learns in the end (cause the film has a predictably happy ending where solutions come all to easy) but even then we don't get to see Erwin as the hunk the other boys in the cast are. It's all a but unseemly. 

The Edge of Seventeen isn't terrible. Steinfeld's personality carries it, and there are charming moments, mostly involving Erwin. But it often felt like it should have been better.

The Edge of Seventeen
Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Kyra Sedgwick, Woody Harrison, Blake Jenner, Hayden Szeto
Director: Kelly Fremon Craig
Writer: Kelly Fremon Craig