tom_golik
I first saw this years ago on cable, and thought it was slightly overdone. Fast forward to today, and the case of Tyler Hadley in Port St. Lucie, FL, who killed his parents so he could throw the best house party ever. (His parents spent the party in their bedroom, dead.) The articles written about it stressed the kids desensitized to violence because of how little there was for kids to do in town except do drugs and commit crimes. Sound familiar? I couldn't help but think of this movie, and how they got it right more than they got it wrong. Do yourself a favor and search this one out. It's well worth it.
Dan Franzen (dfranzen70)
Matt Dillon made his acting debut in Over the Edge playing a punk kid, a character he would parlay into a few more coming-of-age movies in subsequent years. He managed to have a pretty fair career despite the typecasting. Here, his nascent bad-boy personality and charm kick the movie up a notch or two, making a household name for himself in the process.New Grenada is a fictional town in the middle of the desert, a planned community. There's nothing for kids to do, save for hanging out at the local recreation center - which inconveniently closes at 6 pm. It's only a matter of time before the garden-variety vandalism worsens, and sure enough, when two kids fire a BB gun at a police-officer's car from an overpass, tensions in the town become proportionally thicker.At the center of the movie is young Carl (Michael Eric Kramer), son of the homeowners' association president, who's trying to get Texas millionaires to buy some prime real estate in town (rather than build a bowling alley). Carl is described as a nice, smart kid who happens to run with a rebellious crowd, particularly the perpetually on-probation Richie (Dillon), who wears his damn-the-man attitude like a pair of tighty whities.The scourge of the kids' existence is authority in the name of one Officer Doberman (Harry Northup), who is not above harassing the kids any chance he gets. And, for much of the movie, he gets plenty of chances. And when the rec center is inevitably shut down (the better to prevent the rich investors from noticing the Kid Problem), all hell really breaks loose in a realistic, tragic denouement.The script (by Charles Haas and Tim Hunter) effectively illustrates the angst of late-seventies teens desperate to do something, anything, to entertain themselves, something that'll gain themselves notice if not notoriety. The movie is loosely based on an incident that occurred in a real-life planned community in California in the early 1970s and certainly still rings true today.
viewsonfilm.com
Over the Edge is an intense teen drama that marks the acting debut of Matt Dillon (he had no formal training before the cameras rolled). For me, this stands as one of the best films of the 1970's (released in the U.S. in 1981) and a clear bonified snapshot of that era. This is a well acted, angst driven vehicle with many unknowns (it marked the first screen appearances for a majority of the cast members). It tells the story of some troubled Colorado kids who cause havoc (gunfire, vandalism, drug dealing, etc...) in their neighborhood at the expense of their mostly misunderstood parents.Director Jonathan Kaplan (admittedly) filmed a lot of scenes with wide shots that let things play out naturally. It's a cinematic technique that was prevalent in that decade. I found the method very effective and in turn hail this flick as a minor classic. There is a time capsule type feeling to what's on screen. It's intoxicating and "Edge" concludes with what I believe to be an ironically powerful ending. Watch for the image of Dillon (Richie White) standing on top of a police car. It's iconic!
PimpinAinttEasy
I guess i'm getting old, I found the kids really irritating in this kids vs.adults movie. Kids in a planned community slowly start to go wild after they feel like the adults are ruining their town by attracting new business and paying little attention to their needs (were the kids communist? HOHOHO!). The acting by the teenage actors are terrible except for Matt Dillon who is hilarious as a tough kid. Dillon mouths some really cheesy dialog like "A kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid!!!".Michael Kramer who plays the leader of the kids made me sick, what a little chump, I felt like he needed a nice beating :). The hard rock and punk rock soundtrack do liven things up a little bit. But overall, this film is just dire. Apparently this is Kurt Cobain's favorite movie. Unlike nirvana's music this film does not even amount to a slap on the face of the establishment. It is just weak.
AD
