KFOG REVIEW: “FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM” & “THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN”
As “Fantastic Beasts” JUST came out I’ll point you to my spoiler free review. More in depth thoughts coming soon.
As for “The Edge of Seventeen” this was basically a John Hughes film, but with Facebook, Snapchat, and texting.
The film stars Hailee Steinfeld as Nadine, who I thought was great in “True Grit” but then proceeded to go on a journey away from acting? This film shows she’s definitely got some acting chops, though whiny teenager can be grating no matter the actor.
The film certainly made me feel old, but also spoke to some themes I think even if your age doesn’t end with an “een” you’ll relate to. After all you had to go through those years to get to where you are now.
One thing I want to give a big kudos to the film for was casting Hayden Szeto in a leading role, and not making his character only be about his Asian heritage. I’m sure this had something to do with the film having funding from some Chinese companies, but I was delighted to see someone of Asian heritage in a role that was not just meant to be a stereotype.
As for the “old people” – Woody Harrelson and Kyra Sedgwick are excellent in their roles as Nadine’s teacher and mother respectively. Harrelson was particularly delightful as he was in his element as a crotchety underpaid teacher with a heart of gold (could it be any other way?)
If you like John Hughes films, go ahead and give this one a chance, more in the audio review.