{"id":2147,"date":"2024-08-07T04:45:27","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T04:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2147"},"modified":"2024-10-13T18:40:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T22:40:47","slug":"over-the-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/07\/over-the-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"Over the Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Over the Edge <\/strong>(1979)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Orion\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 95 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, violence, vandalism, reckless behavior, drug and alcohol use- all involving teens)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jonathan Kaplan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Charlie Haas and Tim Hunter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Sol Kaplan\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Cinematography: Andrew Davis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: May 18, 1979 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Michael Kramer, Matt Dillon, Pamela Ludwig, Tom Fergus, Vincent Spano, Tiger Thompson, Harry Northup, Andy Romano, Ellen Geer, Richard Jamison, Julia Pomeroy, Lane Smith, Eric Lalich, Kim Kliner, Kristina Hanson, Dianne Reilly, Jeff Fleury, Frank Mugavero.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: N\/A<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0One of the greatest movies about alienated youth and teenage rebellion ever made. I can\u2019t put it more succinctly than that. Over the Edge<\/strong>, directed by Jonathan Kaplan (The Accused), is so frank and honest that nervous studio executives didn\u2019t release it theatrically until late \u201881\/early \u201982. It did, however, turn up on cable TV in summer \u201980 which is where I caught the first half while visiting relatives. I was 12 and couldn\u2019t believe my luck stumbling across such a movie. These kids did such bad stuff. They talked back to cops and teachers, they drank and did drugs, they beat the crap out of \u201cnarcs\u201d and vandalized stuff. Then my dad walked in the room and changed the channel. I didn\u2019t get to see the whole thing until nearly two years later when it played a one-week engagement at a nearby theater (early February \u201982). Even then, Dad gave me a hard time until finally relenting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Over the Edge<\/strong> might never have seen the inside of theaters had it not received nearly unanimous good notices from critics. Orion initially held it back out of fear of inciting violence at theaters the same way The Warriors did that same year. It\u2019s since acquitted cult status. It was very popular on cable TV. Kurt Cobain said that it more or less defined his whole personality. It was also the inspiration for the music video for \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d. Over the Edge<\/strong> is one hell of a great movie!<\/p>\n

\u00a0Inspired by true events, Over the Edge<\/strong> takes place in the fictional planned community of New Granada where roughly one-quarter of the population is under 15, something the town planners didn\u2019t take into consideration. The kids have nothing better to do than hang out at the local rec center and get into trouble. And when they do, Sgt. Doberman (Northup) is right there to bust them. As one kid puts it, you can get busted in New Granada for just walking down the street.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Carl Willet (Kramer) isn\u2019t necessarily a bad kid, but he runs with a bad crowd. His best friend is Richie White (Dillon), a punk who lives by a simple credo, \u201cA kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid.\u201d His other friends are Claude Zachary (Fergus), a total druggie and his younger brother Johnny (Thompson), a mute. Carl often argues with his dad (Romano) about the company he keeps. His mom (Geer) tries to keep the peace between the two. In other words, Carl isn\u2019t all that different from any other 14YO kid.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The trouble really begins when Homeowner\u2019s Association president Jerry Cole (Jamison) decides to scrap plans for a movie theater and roller rink and instead sell the unused property to a wealthy landowner (Smith) from Texas who plans to build an industrial center. The rec center is located right across the street from the property, so Jerry tries to have it shut down for the day so the potential buyers won\u2019t be scared off by the teens. It doesn\u2019t quite work out as planned; the kids still sabotage the sale by vandalizing the visitors\u2019 rental car.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Richie comes into possession of a handgun that was stolen by Cory (Ludwig) and Abby (Kliner) during a home break-in. He uses it to scare a kid (Lalich) who sold hash to Claude then narced him out to the cops. This leads to even more trouble for Richie and Carl. Let me tell you, it ends badly for Richie. It brings about the need for a big town meeting where the adults discuss what to do about the growing youth problem. The teens, led by Carl, head to the school to confront them. When they get there, they decide to lock all the adults in the school and go on a rampage that grows increasingly more violent and destructive. I have to admit I LOVE IT! There\u2019s something so cathartic and satisfying about total anarchy.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The screenplay for Over the Edge<\/strong>, written by Tim Hunter (River\u2019s Edge) and Charlie Haas (Tex), is based on an article (\u201cMousepacks: Kids on a Crime Spree\u201d) published in the San Francisco Examiner in 1973. It more or less accurately depicts the events described in the article (except for the ending). They totally nailed it! The makers get what it\u2019s like being a teenager in a society where adults tend to put their own needs first. Jerry, for example, is so caught up in increasing property values that he doesn\u2019t see the powder keg waiting to destroy his beloved community. Some of the parents are equally guilty. As the Texas landowner puts it, they were in such a hurry to get out of the city, they turned their kids into what they were trying to get away from. Harsh as it sounds, the adults sort of deserve what happens. At least that\u2019s what I took away from the movie.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Over the Edge<\/strong> is wall-to-wall great scenes and cool dialogue. Matt Dillon, making his debut here, gets all the best lines. When Doberman asks why he and Carl felt it necessary to hide when they saw him, he belligerently replies, \u201cWe heard you were horny, man.\u201d When Doberman inquires about the length of a pocketknife he found on Richie\u2019s person, he replies, \u201cThree inches. Almost as big as your d***.\u201d LOL! Still cracks me up. The kids often refer to the local cops as pigs. In another scene, the principal shows the teens a film intended to discourage vandalism, but instead they applaud and cheer at the destructive behavior being shown. The end is totally BAD ASS!<\/p>\n

\u00a0I could go on and on, but instead I\u2019ll shift gears a bit and talk about the realistic, convincing performances delivered by the young first-time actors. Absolutely AMAZING! Dillon conveys a James Dean-like swagger as Richie, a true rebel who openly brags about being \u201cincorrectable\u201d (he means \u201cincorrigible\u201d). It\u2019s easy to see why he went on to be a star. Kramer is likewise good as Carl, a teen caught between keeping out of trouble and going along with the pack. 14 is a rough age, that\u2019s for damn sure. Ludwig is also great as a girl with a reputation that turns out not to be 100% accurate. She has dreams a being a truck driver, a \u201cgypsy of the road\u201d as she calls it. Vincent Spano (Baby It\u2019s You) plays Mark, an older teen that gets into a feud with Carl. He\u2019s quite good also.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The thing about the teens in Over the Edge<\/strong> as opposed to the ones in Porky\u2019s or Class of 1984 is that they\u2019re completely believable characters. They\u2019re the types that you see hanging out behind the school, cutting class to grab a smoke. It helps that the actors are the right age and not twenty-somethings trying to pass for teenagers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The soundtrack, which prominently features \u201cSurrender\u201d by Cheap Trick is pretty awesome, but that description only applies to the original soundtrack, not the one heard in the DVD release. There was a problem with the rights to The Cars\u2019 songs, so \u201cLet the Good Times Roll\u201d is gone. But at least they kept Van Halen\u2019s \u201cYou Really Got Me\u201d. The cinematography is first-rate. Andrew Davis, who would go on to direct Code of Silence and The Fugitive, makes great use of the empty, wide-open land that surrounds the bland planned community. The vastness and nothingness perfectly reflects the teens\u2019 state of boredom.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Over the Edge<\/strong> is an outstanding film and not just because it\u2019s about bad kids doing bad stuff (although that\u2019s a big part of it). It has something to say about youth culture in the 70s, the downside of planned communities and the chasm that exists between kids and adults. Parents really don\u2019t understand which is why kids act out. It\u2019s a tough message, but one that needs to be heard.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the Edge (1979)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Orion\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 95 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, violence, vandalism, reckless behavior, drug and alcohol use- all involving teens)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Jonathan Kaplan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Charlie Haas and Tim Hunter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Sol Kaplan\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Cinematography: Andrew Davis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: May 18, 1979 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Michael Kramer, Matt Dillon, Pamela Ludwig, Tom Fergus, Vincent Spano, Tiger […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cool-cult-flicks","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Over-the-Edge-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2147"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3005,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2147\/revisions\/3005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}