Edge of Seventeen

Coming of age themes are a staple in gay cinema, and Edge of Seventeen is a very good representation of an honest and sympathetic treatment of a gay teen's experience in discovering, understanding, and ultimately accepting his identity.

Set in 1984 in Sandusky, Ohio, the film follows the gradual and heartbreaking coming out process of young Eric (Chris Stafford) and how it affects those around him, namely his mother (Stephanie McVay) and his best friend (Tina Holmes). In the summer of 1984, Eric and Maggie (Holmes) find jobs at a fast food stand in an amusement park. There Eric meets Rod (Andersen Gabrych), a gay college student who's very much out of the closet. Eric's identity crisis is triggered by this acquaintance, in which the boy becomes no more than Rod's newest conquest though he inevitably falls in love with the older student.

His struggles in understanding his identity lead him to experimenting with casual sex with a stranger in the parking lot as well as sex with Maggie, which is a desperate attempt at denying what he is and which ultimately hurts his friend. Since Eric's young, he fumbles awkwardly through the whole thing, earning our sympathy every step of the way. Confused, alienated, and feeling used, he turns to his ex-boss (Lea DeLaria), a tough but motherly lesbian who immediately takes Eric under her wings and provides the boy's much-needed source of support and comfort.

The film's a little rough around the edges in terms of production quality. The visuals are grainy, and several scenes tend to drag (particularly those involving Eric and Maggie in a quiet conversation). But it's this lack of polish from a new director's attempt that gives the film its honesty. There's no flash anywhere, and while it isn't as smooth and crisp-looking as, say, Get Real (another coming-of-age gay film that was released at about the same time), its treatment of a gay teen's problems in coming to terms with his identity is given more depth and sympathy.

Stafford, Holmes, McVay, and DeLaria turn out memorable performances, capturing emotions that are alternately heartbreaking and ennobling, drawing us into the lives of people who are very, very real.

The film also accurately captures the quirks of the era, which include Eric's slow transformation from plain, middle-class kid to colorful rebel with his thrift store clothes, spiked and bi-colored hair (courtesy of Maggie), and eyeliner. Notable songs like Toni Basil's "Mickey," The Eurhythmics' "Right By Your Side," and Bronski Beat's "Why?", among others, provide the right background music that firmly entrenches us into Eric's world. The only complaint I have about that is the choppiness of the way music's introduced in every scene.

The sex scenes aren't very graphic and run the gamut of humorous (the parking lot scene) to sweetly awkward (the motel room scene) and finally to traumatic (the college dorm scene). As with straight relationships, Eric's sexual awakening is a wild collage of experiences that ultimately shape the direction he finally takes.

I highly recommend this film not so much for the enjoyment of fans of gay films, but for the enlightenment of parents, siblings, and friends of gay kids.