Get Real/Edge of
Seventeen
Date viewed: May30/June 12, 1999
Location: Loews 19th Street East, Manhattan/Quad Cinema, Manhattan
These two movies both deal with gay teenagers coming of age. It's amazing that two movies with such similar concepts and storylines would come out in the same season. Movie-goers are all the luckier for it.
Get Real deals with teenagers in a small British high school set in the present time. Edge of Seventeen is set in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1984. Each features a cast of unknown actors (with totally forgettable character names) led by cute, scrawny (I mean believable teenagers by that remark) actors playing the lead roles.
Get Real is the more realistic and satisfying of the two films. The hero is confused and frightened by his sexuality, but he never truly denies it. The obligatory fag hag is his best friend. She's not in love with him and has a life of her own. Our hero falls for a member of the track team that returns his affection, but denies his true identity. Eventually, the budding gay man is liberated by facing his future and telling the truth.
Edge of Seventeen has a similar set-up, but the main character's fag hag friend is truly in love with him. (I found that to be a little too cliched.) Our hero in this movie makes a lot of dumb choices, lies to his parents and himself, and wears a lot of bad '80s clothes and makeup. His decision at the end of the movie is identical to that of his counterpart in Get Real, but there are too many loose ends in all his relationships to make the movie feel complete. However, this film features Lea Delaria as our hero's boss, mentor, and confidant. She's great to watch in this small of a dose. And be sure to catch the chick that plays the best friend. When the star tells her he's gay you'll swear that Meryl Streep has turned back time and is playing a teenager.
My apologies to those of you who might have been 17 years old in 1984, but I found the flashback to be a bit cumbersome and unnecessary. I get the idea that the gay teenager could identify and escape into another world through the wild hair, make-up and pseudo drag of the new wave/romantic era. Perhaps it was intended to be a metaphor for being different. It just seemed a little forced to me.
Both films contain sexual situations, although Get Real is very innocent with nothing graphic. Although Edge of Seventeen has no full frontal nudity, the sex is very obvious and extremely graphic for those of you (or your friends) that blush easily.
Listen to me: Both movies are well worth seeing. Don't wait for them
to hit video because all your friends will be talking about them this summer.
It's great that both stories deal with teenage coming out by healthy, normal
kids in a serious manner.
Back to the main Movies Page.
Back to main Mr SmartyPants Page.
|
The text and design of MrSmartyPants.org is copyrighted © 2000 by David A. Martin.
Site design and photography by |
