American Teen

A mediocre movie that depicts a series of true life characters in their senior high school year. Unfortunate for the viewer that wants to see a more in-depth understanding as to why the teens behavioral patterns are how they are depicted - the writer/director fail(s) at showing why the most successful teens have the gift of having non-broken "quote on quote" normal families. Not much perspective in to family backgrounds, though hard to do in approx 1.5 hrs of film. I feel for Hanah's character, she seems like a very bright yet confused girl, and Jake was my favorite, perhaps because I felt like him at times in my high-school years, though my circumstance was quite different, being the only Caucasian boy in my school.

Some points missed are a character of a substance abusing person, most schools have them as well ; and teacher-student bonding, which is much more prevalent in closely knit communities like the one in this movie.

Final review: boring at times, too shallow, not enough character depth.

This was the only documentary we had a chance to see this year, and we picked well! I found myself getting so absorbed in the stories of these 4 mid-western teenagers that I forgot temporarily that they were actual people. It is unbelievable that the director was able to catch these kids on camera saying and doing the things they did. One of the characters was so unsympathetic that we wondered why on earth she would act the way she did. I can't help but wish the director had included a "what are they doing now" note at the end. These kids are the same age as my oldest daughter, and perhaps that's why I felt connected to them, but I truly do want to know if they followed through with their plans. We also enjoyed the occasional lapse into animation the film included; some were funny, some were disturbing, but we felt they were well done, if a bit slick. This was by far our favorite movie of the 10 we viewed at Sundance this year. I wish the director had been able to come for Q&A.

I always just assume, as I'm dragging my tired ass out of bed, into the shower, out the door, into the subway and up the 22 flights of stairs to my tiny box my boss calls a cubicle that any teenager I pass has no clue about anything at all. I know I'm selling them short but I always see them just standing there, talking about nothing at all and making sure everyone around them can hear what they have to say. They're texting each other and shoving each other and making out obnoxiously up against me on the bus. They annoy me but this is primarily because I wish I had it as easy as they do. The irony is that they do have it so easy but they think they're going through the hardest part of their lives, that once they get out of high school, everything will work out in their favour. There's a reason people are always urging young people not to grow up too soon, y'know.

I expected terror. I expected anxiety. I didn't expect these things from the kids in Nanette Burstein's documentary, American TEEN, but rather from myself while having to sit through an in-depth exploration of what it means to be a teenager in middle America these days. I got neither. Instead, I felt sympathy, connection and nostalgia. The promotional material for this Sundance winner for Best Direction in a Documentary suggests that the five teenagers who make up the main subjects follow in the stereotypical footsteps of THE BREAKFAST CLUB. There's Hannah, the rebel (who is really more of an artist than a rebel), Colin, the jock (who defies all preconceived notions of what it means to be a jock), Megan, the princess (who delights in drama and the suffering of others), Jake, the geek (who naturally plays video games and is in the school band) and Mitch, the heartthrob (who barely leaves an impression on the viewer like the others). The reality is that American TEEN is actually a much more tender and understanding exploration of the insecurities that lie behind the images. All five of these kids turned into characters grow more into themselves before our eyes.

Burstein followed these five kids and a good number of their friends for the entire 2006 scholastic year at Warsaw Community High School. They had troubles with their parents, with their friends, with where they would go to college and with what the prom theme would be, to name but a few of the daily dramas in their lives. As one would expect from a teenager, they believe the world revolves around them and that their problems are monumental in comparison with anyone else's. What struck me most though is that their problems are not really that different than my problems or those of my friends. Now I haven't been a teenager for many a year but I still struggle with finding a partner, with finding myself. I still wonder where my life will lead, where I fit in. With responsibilities like bills, rent, a job, staying fit and keeping up with Jones', I don't have time to let the drama consume me. These five and the millions of others just like them define themselves by their dramas as they don't know the fragility of life yet. Still, their subtle self-questioning, their longing to belong and their hope for their futures gives me a whole other kind of hope for the future of humanity.

American TEEN is an enjoyable, refreshing documentary that will inevitably play differently to all who see it, as everyone had a different adolescent experience. Some have moved on while others still hear the echoes of torment or thrill in their minds. I know I was just as lost as they were at their age but I'm pretty sure I wasn't as loud or vindictive - and, yes, I am aware of how simply making this statement ages me more than is necessary. Thanks to Burstein's finely balanced exposition though, when I see a bunch of kids loitering outside my local corner store, I won't focus solely on the loudness with which they ponder which Jonas brother is the hottest but rather remember the confusion that lives inside them and still lives somewhere within me.

Any enjoyment I may have experienced watching this film was killed by a nagging doubt that what I was watching was authentic.

Is it just me ... or does this film smell fishy? Not only is the camera ALWAYS in the right place when key events occur but each shot has degree of polish that would seem to have required a lot of advanced planning.

This feels like some sort of mockumentary and I'm amazed it has been so positively reviewed. Is America this naive?

Even if this film is real, it doesn't give us any more insight into the world of teen cliques than we got 25 years ago from John Hughes films. With most documentaries, there is are questions about what liberties were taken for the sake of the presentation but "American Teen" goes beyond that. I'm hoping Nanette Burstein will soon say, "By the way, I hope everyone realizes this was a gag." Otherwise, she has lost all credibility with me.

I enjoyed it at first but then started thinking about how the odds of this movie being authentic are pretty much 0. Yet another "documentary" director pushing the genre envelope. Countless shots where you think, "well, how convenient was that...what are the odds of her camera being there".

Why not just call it a movie with untrained kids doing the acting based on their experiences. A fantastic movie called Kids (1999) was done in a similar style sans lies & deception. Does she not think her movie can be enjoyed as fiction? This manipulation frustrates me.

I was recently at a documentary festival where the director fessed up to staging a few of the funnier scenes...someone in the audience followed up this revelation with a "why did you do that?". he just shrugged.

i feel that sort of lack of credibility & concern from the director when watching this film.

watch Kids and see how a film "shot in documentary style" should be made. or 7-up/Hoop Dreams if you want reality. don't settle for this middling attempt.