I don’t want to compare teens to dogs. Teens are not dogs. You hear me? Not dogs. That said, I remember being a teen pretty well. I remember hating being a teen. I especially remember how every teen day felt like seven days to normal people and every insult could be heard from miles away and every slight was felt deep within my core. I was not a dog, but I felt and sensed things a little like the way dog might.
Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) is not enjoying her time on this planet. Her dad died when she was 12 – phew; I’m glad we got the requisite death in a modern teen film over with early, huh? The remaining family members include a brother (Blake Jenner) for whom things come easily and a mother (Kyra Sedgwick) for whom things do not. Nadine takes after her mother. Such is exacerbated when her best and only friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson) hooks up with her brother. Despite being nowhere near the requisite age, I found it exceptionally easy to sympathize with Nadine: you got one thing going for you, and now that’s spoiled. No, I’m not wild about her suicide threat in the opening moments, but she’s obviously reaching for help, not pushing it away.
Two things I adored about this film involved Nadine’s hesitation to party and her relationship with a teacher played by Woody Harrelson. On the former, my generation grew up looking for the party – that’s where the alcohol, the lowered inhibitions, and the possible connections happened. Nadine gets forced to a party by default and never invites the scenario again. For a depressed kid, a party is simply a giant ball of anxiety. Hence, Nadine already seems smarter than everybody in my generation.
On the latter, Woody Harrelson represents we older folk. We’ve got our own point-of-view, but no teen cares to hear it, and after a while, we don’t care to share it, either. We aren’t pretty any more, which makes most teens believe we aren’t wise. Truth is , we aren’t wise for several reasons, but none of them has necessarily to do with the fact that we aren’t pretty any more. While we may not be wise, however, we do have experience; after all, we have been teens ourselves. Woody Harrelson, as Nadine’s guide to things she isn’t quite ready to understand, made this film for me. He doesn’t pander; he doesn’t instruct; he doesn’t lecture; he doesn’t condescend; he recognizes a cry for help and addresses it appropriately … and if Nadine learns something in the process, hey, double victory.
Much as I enjoyed Hailey/Woody relationship, the 2016 romance of the year takes place between Hailey and awkward teen Erwin (Hayden Szeto). They’re both 
lonely souls and neither has any idea how to communicate with the other. This struck me not only as incredibly teen; it was incredibly human.
Did we forget about Hailee Steinfeld? This movie about teen alienation is almost a perfect metaphor for the (still) teen actress herself, largely forgotten at the expense of Chloë Grace Moretz, the Fanning sisters, Shailene Woodley, and half a dozen other young actresses. Hailee is really talented, and I’m overjoyed she finally got her own teen pic to prove it.
Some of you know my own daughter is seventeen as of this writing. So much of Nadine’s personality is wrapped within her relationship with her own brother that this film is fortunately incomparable to my daughter’s experience as an only child. Hence, I have to enjoy it on its own merit rather than as a reflection of her life or mine. And yet, I found The Edge of Seventeen instructional for all parties, teens and their parents alike. This is one of my favorite films of the year and I can’t wait for Kelly Fremon Craig’s next project, assuming it’s not Post Grad 2: Post Post Grad.
♪ It’s not that easy being (a) teen
Having your time spent on what some adult believes
When I think it could be nicer being six or twenty or old
Or something much more powerful than now
But teen is the state of Spring
And teen can be cool and fashion-like
And teen can be hip like a popstar, or important
Like a movement, or every style so free
When teen is all there is to be
It can make you wonder, “why? This sucks ass! Why?”
Thank God I’m not teen, that cup aggravation-ful
Best part is it’s temporary♫
Rated R, 104 Minutes
D: Kelly Fremon Craig
W: Kelly Fremon Craig
Genre: Hyper-angst
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Misunderstood teens
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Their sibs
♪ Parody inspired by “(It’s Not Easy) Bein’ Green”
