As the star of The Edge Of Seventeen, husky-voiced, masturbation evangelist Hailee Steinfeld is the latest youthful beauty to feign awkwardness in the well-traveled Coming Of Age Film. But the trailer, rife with talent—Steinfeld included—suggests that this film might not require an original premise to be a delight.
Opening September 30, The Edge Of Seventeen chronicles the trials of one Nadine Byrd, reeling at the news that her best friend (Haley Lu Richardson) and her intimidatingly popular older brother (Blake Jenner) have fallen for each other. As Nadine, Steinfeld is at once charming, guileless, and acerbic. She accidentally sends a message to her crush confessing her most intimate desires and proposing that they bump uglies in the Petland stockroom (see: textastrophe). Subsequently she announces to a teacher confidant (Woody Harrelson) that she intends to kill herself, a hyperbolic reaction, but achingly relatable nonetheless. Were Harrelson actually a teacher, he would immediately fired for his response to Nadine, but in the moment he and Steinfeld are, together, quite funny.
My only qualm with the trailer is the music. Maybe scoring it to Stevie Nicks’s hit by the same name would have been regarded as too “on the nose,” but fuck that. Why pass up a chance for Stevie when the opportunity has practically leapt into your arms? Instead, we get a mopey cover of The Beatles’ “Help” by Howie Day. It’s a great song, and seemingly appropriate for the film’s plot, but the cover itself is pretty humdrum.
Kelly Fremon Craig makes her directorial debut with this film, and, from the little evidence we have, it looks promising. There’s always room for another coming-of-age tale with humor and heart.
Video via YouTube.