"A kid who tells on another kid is a dead kid!"

I picked up this DVD in the video store purely because of Matt Dillon's gorgeous mug on the cover, not really knowing what to expect and with pretty low expectations. I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised, overwhelmed even. OVER THE EDGE (1979) is a gritty, honest portrayal of adolescent angst in suburbia. What else is new, right? Wrong! While the story is as old as the hills, I've never seen it portrayed on an earnest and epic emotional scale quite like this. It feels like a teenybopper Greek tragedy, and looks like something that Francis Ford Coppola might have filmed if he swapped some disillusioned midwestern kids for an Italian crime family.

The film follows the sordid events that transpire in the suburban planned community of New Grenada, Colorado. The families who moved here yearn to escape from the vice and crime of the inner city, but neglect to provide any diversions for the bored preteens of the town. Indeed, it seems like the adults are a little embarrassed to have the kids around at all and treat them like an unwelcome infestation, closing down their youth centre and trying to hide them away when some bigwig Texan investors come for a tour of the town. The kids get mad, get a little wild, get a little stoned, make some crimes, and eventually run amok in an all-out spree with predictably devastating consequences.

What sets this film apart are its flawless performances, production values, and screenplay, which approach the characters from the perspective of anthropologists, not paparazzi. Unlike the faux-teens often played by actors in their thirties, most of the young actors seen here are acting for the first time. The dialogue and action feels improvised and completely natural, and the actors play their parts with such forthrightness and sincerity that they seem like doppelgangers of characters three times their age. There are several very memorable scenes, particularly when Carl calls Johnny from a payphone to ask what happened to his brother, Richie. Johnny, who is mute, finds his own way to let Carl know what happened. This scene was so simple and moving that it broke my heart.

Every aspect of the film-making is top-notch. The sets are lovely in their stark simplicity, full of big iconic symbols of Americana, with acres of dusty lots and ubiquitous television sets blaring in the corner of almost every scene. The soundtrack is electrifying, lots of frenetic rock-n-roll mixed with a haunting instrumental score. Even the minor adult characters, often nothing more than cardboard cut-outs, are interestingly developed in this film. The plot unravels effortlessly to the inevitable bittersweet finale.

It's a special treat to watch Matt Dillon in his first ever movie role as the incorrigible Richie White. Director Jonathan Kaplan's commentary on the DVD includes some highly amusing anecdotes about what it was like wrangling with the young star on the set. It's not an overstatement to say that Matt Dillon had more sheer talent and authenticity than James Dean had at the same age.

Overall, a winning film, rough and raw and uncomfortable to watch, because it feels just a little bit too real. 4/5 stars.

HERE IS THE SCENE WHERE RICHIE AND CARL STEAL A CAR: