If you grew up on John Hughes films, as I did, The Edge of Seventeen exists somewhere between those Hughes films and recent gems like The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Nadine is a far more broad character than was typically created by Hughes, who had as one of his major flaws a tendency to develop characters with broad stereotypes and what would now be considered unacceptable cultural identifiers. The movie is a showcase for Steinfeld, to be sure, but a big part of its charm lies in the terrific ensemble of actors Craig has found to back her, including a deadpan Woody Harrelson as an unimpressed would-be mentor Richardson as the earthily believable Krista Kyra Sedgwick as Nadine’s distracted single mother and Hayden Szeto, who steals every scene he’s in as a besotted classmate and would-be filmmaker.An Oscar nominee for her performance in the Coen Brothers' 2010 version of True Grit, Hailee Steinfeld gives her most complex and satisfying performance yet as Nadine, the central subject of writer/director Kelly Fremon Craig's entertaining and emotionally honest The Edge of Seventeen. While it's unlikely that Steinfeld will see her fortunes live up to those faint whispers of an Oscar nomination for her performance here, the truth is that's more a reflection of the film's structural issues and the inherent challenge present in selling a teen flick, even a very good one, to an Academy that seems to have a very narrow picture of what constitutes an Oscar worthy performance or film. Written and directed with grace and insight by Kelly Fremon Craig, “The Edge of Seventeen” doesn’t take the comedy into any radical new directions, but it hews to the map with brio and frankly observed humor. Still close as teenagers, Krista and Nadine are each other’s bulwarks against the depredations of high school, until Krista commits an unforgivable social faux pas that ends the friendship and sends Nadine reeling. The one bright spot is her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), who when they meet as little girls is “dressed like a small elderly gentleman,” as Nadine recalls it. In a well-calibrated series of flashbacks, we learn of her challenges, including a longtime losing-end competition with her Adonis-like older brother Darian (Blake Jenner). It’s not that Nadine doesn’t have reasons to complain. “Goodfellas,” “Law & Order” actor Paul Sorvino dies at 83 Hear her roar, and get the heck out of the way. Joining the spiky heroines of classic John Hughes movies, as well as latter-day Heathers, Mean Girls and their sisters-in-sarcasm, Steinfeld’s Nadine is a whiny, funny, self-defeating bundle of contradictions. In a go-for-broke performance that combines sharp-tongued wit, prickly alertness and just the right touch of pathos, Steinfeld allows Nadine’s roiling emotions to roam about freely. ![]() ![]() Nadine, the troubled teenager we meet at the precise moment she tells a not-entirely sympathetic history teacher that she’s going to commit suicide, is in many ways a typical high school girl caught up in self-dramatizing angst and perfectly balanced feelings of self-hate and superiority. Until now, at least: In “The Edge of Seventeen,” she proves her mettle as that rare performer who can win the audience’s allegiance even when her character is at maximum annoyability. Since delivering her solemnly impressive feature debut in 2010’s “True Grit,” young actress Hailee Steinfeld has struggled to find a role commensurate with her solid, self-assured gifts. ![]() Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu
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