Edge of Seventeen

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Summary: One of the best Gay Films Ever.
Review: Edge of Seventeen is one of the best coming out and coming of age gay films ever. It paints a picture of coming out in middle America. The thrill of finding there's are others owt there like you, falling in love, getting dumped without an explanation and dealing with it and coming to terms with parents. It was poignant and brought tears to my eyes as well as painted a nostalgic look at, yes, Sandusky Ohio, and working in a theme park

The only flaw os the hokey ending where the wonderful Lea Dalaria sings a song implying that the future will be rosey. Other than that....great film.

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Summary: A touching coming-out movie
Review: I would highly recommend this touching intelligent nostalgic movie of life in the '80's, growing up, coming out, and moving on. A bright script and a wonderful cast especially Stafford and Delaria.

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Summary: Who grew up in the 80's?
Review: I had forgotten just how badly we dressed in Jr. High and High School but this movie did a Dead Bang job! The plot was perfectly done I though.
It starts with Eric, a high school student working his summer job in a resterant with his best friend "A girl" He is really into his music, the Eurythmics ect... Well at the job there is an out gay guy done PERFECTLY, the bleached hair, the two different colored Izod Chirts with the collor up ect.. who flirts with him. Eric questions himself, his best friend may want more than friendship ect.. The story moves foreward to a point where he tells her he is gay, she agrees to go to a gay bar with him and then freaks out when she sees him dancing with another guy. Ad to that that the guy at work gets distant later on. Poor Eric, gets to do some growing up in this film but I thought it was a fairly realistic film and the clothes and music flashback made it hilarious to watch. Thumbs up!

Rating:
Summary: An honest effort, but a few lost opportunities
Review: Somehow I was expecting just a little more from this movie. The number of five-star reviews had led me to hope it might be on a par with the similar-themed Get Real. But it isn't, despite appealing performances by Chris Stafford as Eric, a confused 17-year-old, and Lea DeLaria as his cheerful lesbian friend.

The problem seems to lie with both the script and the direction. Screenwriter Todd Stephens' dialogue lacks sparkle, and at times his humour is a little forced. More importantly, his characters are not fully-rounded, meaning that we never really know them. This includes the central character, Eric. After 99 minutes I still felt removed from his situation because the script hadn't allowed me to get into his head. Similarly with Angie, I felt that Stephens was relying too much on the tough-as-nails-but-with-a-heart-of-gold butch lesbian stereotype rather than providing a true three-dimensional portrait. She SEEMS likeable, but who is she? I just couldn't get a handle on her character. Eric's parents were similarly "fuzzy".

Director David Moreton certainly knows how to stage a steamy sex scene, but I felt the movie needed more dramatic impetus at key moments in the story. The lead-up to Eric's seduction, and his growing self-awareness as a gay person, seemed too casual and needed more visual development. We needed to see what the dialogue wasn't telling us, how he felt - and what he was thinking. (Instead of reaction shots, we got irritating giggles from Eric at several important moments.) Surely his realization that he was gay would have been more of a big deal? I felt too much like an observer watching a documentary, when I should really have been caught up in what was going on.

Don't get me wrong - this movie has plenty going for it. The good that it will do for teenagers in Eric's situation is reason enough to give it three stars. It also has a refreshing honesty about it that one misses in mainstream American film. But do check out Get Real for a superior take on this theme.

Rating:
Summary: This film hits home
Review: This film is magic. The title initially caught my attention because I'm a huge Stevie Nicks fan. Then I read about the film and realized it was a gay coming of age/coming out film. It no longer mattered that Stevie's music played no part in the movie.

I came out in 1985. Though I was in college, not high school, in 1984, this film could be the story of my life. I would be Eric. The one charging head first into the gay scene only to be used and feel like I was taken advantage of. The story is so realistic and so true to my coming out, I couldn't help but love this movie. The use of music to set the time and place was powerful.

The fact that this film is low budget and an indie makes this film feel so much more honest in the portrayal of everything. It feels so real.

The relationship between Eric and Rod, Eric and Maggie, Eric and his mother are all mirror images of scenes from my life. While the acting is at times a little "naive", it seems to work well. The movies flows so well, there is never a dull moment. This is a fun movie, though it shows a difficult topic. Though I had heard many times from many people, that we gay men all had similar coming out experiences, it never hit home until I saw this movie. The fact that someone could make a movie like this tells me that I wasn't alone in what I was thinking or feeling.

I saw this film for the first time when I was 36 years old. I saw it on the closing night of the Gay and Lesbian Festival in Rochester, NY. The movie felt like a validation of my life. I felt so incredibly good about myself after seeing this film, I went home and started to call people who I hadn't come out to and simply told them "I'm gay". I think this is an indication that this is one powerful movie. After the film festival, the film came back to Rochester and I made it a personal mission to drag all my friends to see this film. I lost track how many times I saw it in the theater. And now, Edge of 17 has become the second film of my new DVD collection.

I would love to see a sequel. I want to know what happened with Eric and Jonathon.

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Summary: Quintessential 1980s ...
Review: "Edge of Seventeen" was a wonderful film, in part for the near-perfect way it encapsulated American popular culture of the early 1980s. This soundtrack album does an equally fine job, providing us with a diverse and generally-memorable collection of tunes from that era.

The soundtrack includes a few well-known 1980s "standards" (if there is such a thing), but this is significantly more than a "greatest hits" collection. The real reason to buy this album is for its collection of lesser-known selections, including some surprisingly sensitive and evocative tunes that you probably haven't heard in a decade or more. Chief among these is perhaps the georgeous and etherial "Small Town Boy" by Bronski Beat. There's also great stuff by the Thompson Twins, A Flock of Seagulls, and others.

Of course, there's also something to be said for the somewhat tackier pop tunes on the album, too. You could, for example, reenact the movie's opening scene by popping this album into your car CD player, cueing up Toni Basil's "Mickey," cranking up the volume, and singing along. Guaranteed to instantly cheer you up!

Rating:
Summary: A little Ohio goes a long way.
Review: Growing up in Dayton, I couldn't help but feel a little nastalgia about the small town of Sandusky. The movie shows well the inner struggle and outter expression of the struggle to find selfworth and the unique sence of self that is often hard to arrive at in many gay youth. The main character knows who he is if not to arrive at self-acknowledgement a little late and at the expense - finally shown in a film - of losing a life-long friend to an ideal which can never be met by a gay boy - being in love with the notion of being in love the way society thinks you should.

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Summary: Old style, fun music
Review: For those of you who like 80's techo/pop this is the CD that you need for your collection. This "Small Town Boy" is "Wishing (he had a phograph of you)". "The Politics of Dancing" is an "Obsession" making me travel to a "Destination Unknown". "Why" "Mickey" is there so much "High Energy" with "So Many Men, So Little Time". "In the Name of Love" "Modern Love is Automatic" "You are my World" "Right by Your Side". I hope the comments have given you an idea that this is a CD for you.

Rating:
Summary: Great Film
Review: This film instantly became one of my favorite movies of all time. Growing up in Ohio, spending part of every summer of the 80's in Sandusky at Cedar Point, I could really identify with this film. Chris Stafford gives an amazing performance as Eric. Tina Holmes, Stephanie McVay, and Lea DeLaria are amazing as are the rest of the cast. This story is so believable. Coming from someone who lived it, the plot rings true. Don't wait...buy this film now and watch it on the hottest, stickiest night of the summer and re-live a little of your past. You won't regret it!!!

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Summary: An endearing review from the real "Angie"...
Review: Of course I know this is a great coming out/coming-of-age story, because I lived it back in those summers of '82 through '85, as I am the real & legitimate Angie (Eric's sympathetic lesbian friend and boss during that summer of '84). Everyone's name was changed except mine as it possesses an angelic, divine intervention quality for my "little man" who I took under my intervening wing that summer. I was the older college mentor to the younger high school student, as there were no gay/lesbian support groups for high school people back in those days. Trust me, I know & had to find out my own heartbreakingly way...so when meeting "Eric", his special-ness & hetero-line crossing angst touched my heart as does this movie he wrote. Those were the best years of my life when everything for me was perfect and I was glad for the bond I began and still have with "Eric". I had the lifestyle, a lover, great gay/lesbian/bi/straight friends, a fun summer job in an amusement park on Lake Erie, a great sense of humor, a fun gay club to party at in a time period of terrific music when androgeny was hip and very hot. This is a great movie with a great soundtrack because it really happened and I was a part of it. It's a pretty neat thing to have one's life and times on film; to have been included in on it's creation; to have been portrayed by a well-known and dynamic actress & comedienne & to be a part of the gay & lesbian movement. This gives me pride and satisfaction to hear the empathetic "character" Angie reviewed so well and to know that I am the real-life persona for what helped a young gay man face the dilemmas we all go through when courageously deciding to live an alternative lifestyle. May you enjoy it as I do each and everytime it appears on IFC or Sundance; reliving those wonderful early "80's" years.