Review: American Teen

American Teen

OPENING DATE: 07/25/2008

STUDIO: Paramount Vantage

TRAILER: Trailer

ACCOMPLICES: Official Site

The Charge
A tale of teen angst.

Opening Statement
American Teen was one of the most talked about films at Sundance, winning the Best Direction: Documentary prize at the festival. Imagine if The Hills or Laguna Beach were turned into a documentary. Imagine if reality television became the new direction for documentaries. This is not hard to imagine while watching American Teen.

Facts of the Case
High school sucks. That is a discernible fact in Nanette Burstein’s documentary which follows seven high school students throughout their senior year. Looking at the film’s poster, which is a parody of The Breakfast Club, you can tell that each student resides within a different tier of the school’s social ladder. There is Hannah Bailey, the quirky girl with teen angst; Colin Clemens, the sports jock; Mitch Reinholt, the other sports jock; Megan Krizmanic, the popular socialite; and Jake Tusing, the socially inept band geek. American Teen captures these teens through their various trials with relationships, college anxieties, and personal panics.

Burstein centers the documentary on Hannah, whose biggest drama falls upon the boy troubles in her life. Band geek Jake Tusing has the inverse storyline, as he trying to find a girlfriend. Colin and Megan are both worried about college. Colin is hoping to get a basketball scholarship, to avoid going into the army. Megan must continue the family legacy of attending Notre Dame. And Mitch gets introduced halfway through when he becomes smitten with Hannah.

The Evidence
When the film begins, the camera reveals the high school, then a class room, and finally centers on a single African-American girl amidst predominantly white community. Her story seems bounds more interesting than the students Burstein chose to focus the film on.

I didn’t live too far away from Warsaw, Indiana where this documentary was shot. In fact, I lived in a town very similar to the one shown in American Teen and a high school with a social make-up very similar to the one these students attend: white bred, small town. It was not too long ago that I too had graduated from high school. So when I say that I felt as if I was watching my peers, the statement is not stretch by any means. In fact, I’m sure I have friends that know these kids.


While watching American Teen, one phrase repeatedly popped up into my head — “Get over it.” When you’re a teenager, the world is on your shoulders, and when we live in a generation of , emo bands, and personal blogs, your world is the world.  We are one of the most narcissistic generations to date. But the thing about high school is that once you’ve graduated, all the problems and worries from that era are easily forgotten. In fact, they look quite silly in hindsight.

Hannah, ditching school because she cannot bear to look at her ex-boyfriend in the hallways, is in danger of dropping out. Megan, concerned she may not get into Notre Dame, joins forces with her friends systematically destroy a girl’s high school reputation by leaking full frontal pictures that this girl sent to a boy. And Colin, whose basketball dreams feel like they are shattering in front of him, has a father who continually hangs the threat of the military over his head. All of this should be fodder for drama, but there is a noticeable lack of empathy for any of these characters.

The problem with Burstein’s direction is that it’s too too by the numbers. These are typical teenagers, in a typical suburban town, shown in a typical documentary about teenage life. These teens are a fairly likable group of kids, but they’re presented more as stereotypes than archetypes. While she spices things up with a few animated sequences to convey the emotional baggage of these characters, the problems these students face are so uninteresting and even laughable that these sequences only emphasize the cartoonish nature of high school.
 
Closing Statement
Some people may look back to their high school years believing they were one of the best years of their life. Others may look back and see it as the worst time of their life. Watching American Teen may have you thinking it was the most irritating period of your life.  


6/10

For more information:

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