Hailee Steinfeld made a big impression on audiences with her first film role in The Coen Bros. TRUE GRIT remake in 2010, which was no easy task having to hold her own with heavy hitters like Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin. Since then she’s appeared in blockbuster fare like ENDER’S GAME and PITCH PERFECT 2, and surprised everyone by launching an instantly successful music career last fall with her hit album HAIZ. Not bad for someone who hasn’t even turned 20 yet. Her newest movie is THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN, which explores the life of an awkward teenage girl just try to figure out how to survive high school. It may also be her best performance to date.

Nadine (Steinfeld) is a socially-stunted teen that literally has one friend (carried over from childhood) in Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), who she sticks to like glue during her daily high school life. Her brother Darian (Blake Jenner) is one of the popular kids in school, and her mother Mona (Kyra Sedgwick) is trying to deal with work and dating after being unexpectedly widowed. Nadine’s only outlet for venting comes in the form of Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson), a blunt teacher who appears to have little interest in the lives of his students. Her world is turned upside down when Krista starts a sudden and unexpected relationship with Darian, which leads to Nadine finding herself beginning an awkward friendship with classmate Erwin (Hayden Szeto)… but she’s secretly pining over Nick (Alexander Calvert), a fellow student who doesn’t even know she exists. As all of these elements collide, Nadine must learn some hard lessons about just how difficult being a teenager can be.

While it’s being marketed as a coming-of-age comedy, THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN is actually more serious and grounded than you might think. This may be the result of James L. Brooks producing, or more likely writer and first-time director Kelly Fremon Craig (POST GRAD) keeping the material a little more humanized than what you sometimes see in high school comedies. Now that’s not to say there aren’t some funny moments throughout, because believe me, you’ll be laughing pretty hard in certain scenes. Where the film excels is how easy to relate to the material is. We’ve all had awkward moments in high school… crushing on a classmate, finding out people aren’t what you thought they were, losing and gaining friends, etc. – whether you were or are a nerd or a jock, you’ll find something to latch on to here. Even the depiction of Woody Harrelson as the disconnected and put upon teacher feels more real and sincere than what we normally see in these types of movies.

The glue holding this all together is Hailee Steinfeld, who is excellent as Nadine, capturing all the less-than-glamorous aspects of teen life and building a character that seems very genuine. Nadine isn’t just an awkward teen, she’s a girl who can’t emotionally deal with not getting her way, yet wants desperately for others to like her. She’s also reeling from the sudden death of her father, who seemed to be the only person who truly ever “got” her. It’s all at once an amusing, endearing and at times sort of heartbreaking performance, and Steinfeld nails every bit of it. Woody Harrelson also delivers one of the best characters of the year in Mr. Bruner, especially when he’s laying it on the line for Nadine in sarcastic ways I’m sure all teachers would like to respond to their students with. There’s some fun surprises with his character that make the narrative even more fun. Hayden Szeto is also one of the standouts in the piece, perfectly playing the smitten classmate who is awkward in his own right. He’s the high school boy that should get the girl, but is too often found in the friend zone… again, a lot of us have been there, or can at least relate on some level. Blake Jenner and Haley Lu Richardson get some nice character moments as Nadine’s brother and best friend respectively, and Alexander Calvert is appropriately cast as the love (or lust) interest for our lead. The only character that feels a little underwritten is Nadine’s mother Mona, played by Kyra Sedgwick. She spends most of the movie not understanding her daughter’s frustrations, and never seems to deal with the loss of her husband in a definitive way. I was waiting for a scene that showed her finally coming to terms with it all, and that moment never really came. Then again, this is Nadine’s story, and in that regard feels pretty complete.

While it may not become this generation’s THE BREAKFAST CLUB or CLUELESS, there are aspects of THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN that make me think of solid 80s fare like PRETTY IN PINK or SIXTEEN CANDLES. It has the makings of an instant high school classic and absolutely features some of the better performances of the year. There’s also a sort of timeless quality to it, thanks largely in part to a semi-retro soundtrack that features everything from Aimee Mann to The Alan Parsons Project. There’s a lot to appreciate here no matter what age demographic you fall into. At some point or another in those awkward high school years, we’ve all been Nadine.

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