Film Review : OVER THE EDGE * * * *
Over The Edge (1979)
CAST Michael Kramer, Matt Dillon, Pamela Ludwig, Harry Northrup
DIRECTOR Jonathon Kaplan
Alot of our questions about the problems with youth in America can be answered by ourselves. We don't necessarily open our eyes to the warning signals that children put out. Jonathon Kaplans Masterpiece "Over The Edge" from 1979, could be used in a classroom as a teaching vehicle for disfunctional societies. It makes us step back and ask ourselves if we ever try to really educate youth and teach them right from wrong. Or, perhaps, maybe we just want kids to do as programmed like robots staying out of our way so we can do the daily things we find important. Lets ignore them, maybe they will go away.
Michael Kramer stars as Carl, a fourteen year old living in New Granada, a Colorado suburb in the middle of development. The adults of the town are pre occupied with getting investors to finance real estate. The building of homes and apartment complexes to make their community more appealing to potential residents of New Granada. Carl is like all the other kids in town. He's bored stiff, likes to party and listens to rock and roll. His best friend is Richie, who is a little bit of a wild child and Carl's parents dont care for him too much. But then again, Carl's parents dont seem to notice Carl to care for him either.
The kids hang out at a Recreation center. They smoke pot, listen to Vanhalen and Cheap Trick, and shoot pool. The main policeman, Sgt. Doberman, played by long time character actor Harry Northrup, has it in for the kids. He feels the rec center is a bad influence on the kids and he lobbies to have it shut down. Great idea huh?
Here we have a town with nothing in it, filled to the brim with young teenagers with nothing to do but go to the rec center, and we have a cop who wants to take that from them. Smooth.
Ultimately the rec center is shut down, triggering the kids to rebel and hold the adults of the community hostage in a school gym which was being used to hold a town meeting at the time.
The ending is not a happy one and their is not too much to really smile about. The soundtrack is great with timeless songs taken right from that era. The setting is perfect, art direction and costume design are effective. This movie was the film debut for Matt Dillon and Vincent Spano, both effective in their roles. Kramer as Carl is the focus of the story with his relationship with his parents. I was twelve when this movie was released and I can say that it is accurate in the dialogue used, settings and relationships between kids and adults. Before all these killing sprees at schools ever took place, this film recognized the potential for society to become hindered by adults and kids not meeting eye to eye. Just goes to show those paid advertisements on T.V. arent all crap. Listen to your kids before they notice you arent paying attention.
