I had the priveledge of catching this movie while I was in New York City. Edge of Seventeen and Get Real were both playing in New York while I was there for an urban ministry class and I made a point of sneaking out to see them. Both movies are about life as a gay teenager. Of the two movies, Edge of Seventeen was the better movie. It's a dramatic comedy about a teenage boy who realizes that he's gay and struggles to find out where he fits into the gay scene of small-town America in the mid-80's. The movie takes place in Sandusky, Ohio, home of the amusement park, Cedar Point (which I thought was cool because I love Cedar Point). Eric, the star of the movie, decidese to work at Cedar Point over the summer. He soon discovers that one of his coworkers is gay. At this point Eric does not want to consider himself gay, but over the course of several weeks he finds himself falling in love with this guy. Eric tries to push the feelings away, but they don't leave and eventually he gives in to his feelings and kisses Rod in a storage room. By this time, summer is almost over and Rod has to leave for college. Eric attempts to meet up with Rod a few times and at one point they do have a one-night stand in Rod's dorm room. But soon Eric finds that Rod isn't returning his phone calls or responding to any of his messages. Although Eric had fallen in love with Rod, the feelings were not reciprical. Eric goes through some stages of depression where he wonders how he fits in as a gay man. He soon discovers the gay bar scene and quickly gets wrapped up into the glamor of the gay night life. Feeling discouraged at not being accepted by the gay scene he tries to become what he thinks is expected of gay men--he drastically changes his appearance, gets a totally new hair style, dresses in flashy clothes, and begins using (and overusing) his mother's makeup so that he'll look qay for his nights out at the bar downtown. Eric's mother notices his drastic change in behavior, attitude, and appearance, and confronts his son with the killer question, "Are you gay?". A dramatic scene follows with Eric leaving the house and returning to the bar where he can drink away and dance away his problems. Edge of Seventeen takes a very serious look at the gay scene. It uncovers people's desires to fit in, and shows the great lengths that people will go to in order to fit in. It shows the problems teenagers have living in a house where your parents don't know you're gay. It shows the dangers of the gay bars, the heavy drinking, the social drug use, and the quick sex that always just leaves you feeling dirty and used. Edge of Seventeen deserves six stars, but I can only give it five. A great movie. It's a shame that it hasn't come out in more cities, but they say the market's not there. Visit the official Edge Of Seventeen home page. Read what other people thought of this movie.

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