Strange
creatures haunt the wide streets and narrow minds of a perfect community, their
shadows as thick as smoke with flammable intentions that sting like fire.
Jonathan Kaplan pushes adolescent ennui and the emotional violence of puberty
like a drug that fuels an epic meltdown between those who protect…and those who
are served.
OVER THE
EDGE is a powerful film because it’s a powerful story that doesn’t rely on
trite characterizations and maudlin generalizations. Kaplan focuses his camera
upon these young boys and girls and is compassionate to their cause, allowing
natural dialogue and body language to communicate their problems and desires.
He composes mostly in medium shot with long takes, allowing tracking shots as
these teenagers move and speak in a relaxed and realistic manner. When
projected onto a large screen, the cinematic elements coalesce into a feature
narrative as opposed to feeling like it was made-for-TV which often plagues
wordy “message” movies. The child actors are especially wonderful though it’s
the adults who veer towards stereotype.
The film
begins with Cheap Trick’s low-slung guitar riffs pulsing through the suburban
imagery as we’re introduced to the prefabricated community of New Grenada. This
dichotomy sets the tone for the entire film as one of placid waters concealing
a violent riptide beneath. The credits end with a teenager shooting a BB gun at
a police car and again Rick Nielsen’s blistering guitar accentuates Robin
Zander’s growling scream of introduction: “…are
you ready or not!?” For teenagers we fist pump with the adrenaline rush of
complicity but as adults we feel the sudden stabbing pain of anxiety and fear.
No wonder this was a film that scared the studio into a limited release which
quickly buried the film from national attention. It would find life a few years
later on pay channels and become recognized as a classic worthy of rediscovery.
The
narrative is mostly filtered through the life of our young protagonist Carl and
his friend Richie (a young Matt Dillon). Carl comes from a middle class home
with successful parents and Richie lives in suburban housing with a single mother
who hides her stash in her Ford Bronco. It’s clear that Kaplan is blurring the
lines between the two social hierarchies and depicting the kids as one general
group: classless but bonded by their communal dissatisfaction with adults and
authority. The kids hang together in the local Rec Center where they can shoot
pool, smoke, drink and socialize without their parents around. This is their
hideaway. Julia is the Director of the Rec Center and the only adult who is
shown respect by the kids because she respects them! The story stumbles through
Carl’s school daze and adventures outside of school like getting high, going to
parties, looking for the cute redhead he has a crush on, all with Richie by his
side. We see the clash of parents mostly through Carl’s family as his mother
pleads for understanding while his father rants about the downturn in his
Cadillac business. Carl’s home life is lost in his earphones where Cheap Trick,
The Cars and the Ramones make everything bearable. Fuck, who can’t relate to
those feelings! There is little driving force throughout the story just
infractions that lead to the final confrontation and conflagration.
OVER THE
EDGE is both dark and humorous at times, showing these kids interacting in
realistic ways. In the film’s most famous lines Richie states “Any kid who
tells on another kid is a dead kid”. Carl doesn’t squeal but gets assaulted by
the shooter (in the opening credits sequence) anyway. Later in the film Carl
gets his revenge and the adolescent scales of justice are balanced once again
and the two become accomplices. These kids see the adults who are more
concerned with property values and secreting their children away from the wealthy
investors as the true enemy. It is a battle of generations that was fought by Dean,
Hoffman, and now Dillon: a battle that will always rage between the dying of
the light and the rising of the sun. Finally, New Grenada explodes like a
grenade, its shrapnel wounding all in this teenage wasteland.
Final
Grade: (B+)
