Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) loved her father and battled with her mother (Kyra Sedgwick). At 13, she lost her father. Her life is one of miserable sarcasm except for her best friend since second grade, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). She hates her perfect brother Darian (Blake Jenner). Dorky Erwin Kim has a crush on her but she's in lust with delinquent Nick Mossman. To her horrors, Krista starts dating Darian. The only person she could turn to is equally sarcastic teacher Mr. Bruner (Woody Harrelson).

It's funny. It's touching. It's poignant. There are no superficial characters in the main group. The jokes are great. Everybody's great. Woody is a real standout. The only drawback I can remotely dig up is that Hailee Steinfeld is too pretty. She follows a long line of Hollywood beauties who dress down to do 'She's All That'. The Pedro joke is hilarious which helps a lot. However, she's never going to be Danny DeVito level. The reason it works so well is a terrific performance from Hailee. She really sells this self-obsessed bitter teen while maintaining a great likability. One roots for her and sees the world from her eyes even as everyone knows that she's wrong. Hailee shows some terrific acting talents once again.

This film has nothing to do with the rock anthem "Edge of Seventeen." It is sort of like watching "Harper valley PTA" and discovering it was a different Harper Valley PTA where nothing went on.

Hailee Steinfeld has inherited the moody maladjusted teen role from Ellen Page, who could probably still pull it off, we just wouldn't believe it. We see Nadine "suffer" through all sorts of teen angst and faux drama, like her best friend (Haley Lu Richardson) is dating her hunk brother (Blake Jenner). I am not sure what the issue is there, but whatever it was, it was big. She does not confide in her mother (Kyra Sedgwick) and growing up, she was a daddy's girl until he passed. Her loan confidant is her history teacher (Woody Harrelson) who has his own way which adds to the humor of the film. Nadine is crushing on Nick (Alexander Calvert) while Erwin (Hayden Szeto) crushes on her...more like "Love Stinks" than "Edge of Seventeen." The feature was a comedy for much of the time, except for that one moment near the end they are required to squeeze in drama, so we can have that formula "feel good" ending.

Guide: F-word. Implied sex. Groping. sexting. No nudity

I've spent a lot of time over the years trying to figure out the humor I like and movies like this pin it down for me. I like awkward humor. Nadine is all kinds of awkward and that's what makes her relatable and adorable. You empathize with her and the problems she's going through, and through the eyes of an adult, of course you laugh at how overdramatic she is, but in a FUNNY way. It makes for some comedic relief between her and her teacher delightfully played Woody Harrelson, who just ignores her neuroses. What makes the film a pleasant experience is the way she is played by Hailee Steinfeld. There's a few minutes here and there where they venture into 'I will punch you' category, but nowhere near the insufferable 'lady bird' I had to turn off after ten minutes. Definitely a recommended film for those who empathize with growing pains.