Blu-ray Review
Comedy
'The Edge of Seventeen' Blu-ray Review: More than just another teen movie
February 14, 2017Ben MK
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FEATURE: Being a teenager isn't all it's cracked up to be. Just ask 17-year-old Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), whose best friend is dating her brother, whose mom is a neurotic headcase, and whose teacher apparently hates her guts. And to top it all off, Nadine's just sent the most embarrassing text to her crush — can life possibly get any worse? Written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, The Edge of Seventeen is a movie that any awkward teenager — or anyone who's ever been an awkward teenager — can identify with. A spiritual successor to such coming-of-age comedies as Pretty in Pink and 10 Things I Hate About You, it's the type of film that would have once starred an actress like Molly Ringwald or Natasha Lyonne. Now, that torch has been passed to Steinfeld, who, at 20, proves that she can still channel that delicate balance of angst, pathos and humor to make the subject matter work. The supporting cast is equally great, and features a good mix of recognizable names and relative newcomers, including Blake Jenner (Everybody Wants Some!) as Darian, Nadine's ever-popular brother; Haley Lu Richardson (The Bronze) as Krista, her BFF since second grade; Hayden Szeto as Erwin, a dorky, fellow classmate with a not-so-secret crush on Nadine; Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) as her long-suffering mother, Mona; and Woody Harrelson (The Hunger Games series) as Mr. Bruner, Nadine's underappreciated yet insufferable history teacher. Interestingly enough, The Edge of Seventeen carries an R-rating (due to a few f-bombs and some saucy dialogue), a fact that likely contributed to the film's underperformance at the box office this past November. At the same time, however, the decision to seemingly alienate the movie's target audience demographic is also perfectly understandable — if not highly respectable — as the result makes for an edgy, true-to-life look at the trials and tribulations of those awkward few years between childhood and adulthood.  The Edge of Seventeen debuts on Blu-ray with a pleasing, if not low-key, 1080p transfer; and while the results aren't particularly mind-blowing, it certainly doesn't disappoint. Picture quality is crisp and clear, with an appreciable level of texture and fine detail all around; colors are nicely saturated, but not overly vibrant; and black levels and contrast are excellent, with no signs of any image defects to speak of. As for the audio, the movie is mostly a dialogue-driven affair, but the disc's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound mix capably folds in such background effects as classroom chatter, music at a house party, and the ambience of the rides and games at an amusement park.  VVS Films' single-disc Blu-ray release includes the following Blu-ray extras:
The Edge of Seventeen is available from VVS Films as of February 14th, 2017. The Blu-ray features English and French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks. The film is presented with English and French subtitles. The total runtime is 1 Hr. 44 Mins. |
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