Review by Bob Ignizio
At the point in time we meet Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), the protagonist
of THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN, high
school has most definitely not been the best years of her life. She's awkward,
only has one friend, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), and her dad, the one family
member that seemed to understand her, died just a few years prior. Nadine still
isn't over the loss, and neither is her mom Mona (Kyra Sedgwick), kind of a hot
mess who leans heavily on Nadine's popular and self-confident brother Darian
(Blake Jenner).
Things only get worse. When Krista and Darian start dating, Nadine
is so upset she ends their friendship. As for Nadine's own romantic prospects,
they aren't promising. She has an unrequited crush on Nick (Alexander Calvert),
but he couldn't be less interested. Meanwhile nerdy but nice Erwin (Hayden
Szeto) would seem to be a perfect match, but Nadine keeps putting him in the
friend zone. The only person she has to talk about any of this is her sarcastic
teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson). Will Nadine manage to mend friendships,
fix her family, and find love before the end titles scroll?
