Troubled Past Haunts 'Girl on the Edge'
Joey Guerra | April 17, 2015 | Houston Chronicle
"Girl on the Edge," a well-meaning drama about a troubled girl who learns to love herself and others with the help of a holistic rehabilitation program, could have easily stumbled into TV-movie territory. It's based on a true story and stars Taylor Spreitler, who made a convincing teen mother in peril in the Lifetime flick "Stalked at 17."
But it ultimately rises above those trappings. This is a modest, mature film that makes some of the obvious choices seem fresh. There are nice subtleties in the script by Joey Curtis ("Blue Valentine") and in several of the performances. Director Jay Silverman handles heavy subject matter with a mostly light touch. Spreitler holds the film together as Hannah Green, a self-destructive party girl cycling through drug use and an overall indifference to life. She is drugged and sexually assaulted by a man she meets through a dating app, who also posts explicit photos of her online.
Hannah's parents, including her adoptive mother, are at their wit's end. Her birth mother, an abusive drug addict, is long estranged. They send Hannah to a treatment center that uses horses, gardening and outdoor experiences to refocus a group of troubled girls.
It isn't, of course, that easy. Hannah rebels, rebels again and runs away. Mackenzie Phillips has a frantic cameo as Hannah's birth mother that comes off like a caricature. There's also a hilarious scene involving a junkie couple that erupts into a violent argument over a buffalo chicken salad. ("I told you get me Caesar! You know I'm hypoglycemic! You know how much glucose is in buffalo chicken?")
Peter Coyote provides a firm, nurturing hand as Hank, the camp's head honcho. The late Elizabeth Peña is reliably warm and affecting as a counselor with purple highlights. Amy Price-Francis is also quite good at projecting silent grief, frustration and joy as Hannah's much-put-upon adoptive mother.
Gil Bellows, known for roles in "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Ally McBeal," has a difficult task in playing Hannah's father. He races through a flurry of emotions that aren't always fleshed out by the script. Bellows does what he can with the limitations.His confrontation with the creator of the dating app that endangered his daughter and with her teenage attacker at a frozen-yogurt shop ultimately go nowhere. It's also never quite clear how the relationship with his wife works itself out.
It's tough, however, to not be swayed by the film's hopeful ending. Thanks to delicate direction and Spreitler's affecting performance, you'll find yourself rooting for this "Girl."
More Information
'Girl on the Edge'
(WorldFest closing-night film)
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: AMC Studio 30, 2949 Dunvale
Tickets: $12.50; 713-965-9955, worldfest.org