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American Teens

Reviews - Movies

Written by John Delia

Thursday, 24 July 2008

Rated: PG-13

Summing up American Teen in a few words, I would have to say "unrealistic, yet interesting." It's a documentary about teens attending high school and letting everyone watch their lives play out over a school year, but without the cameras in their faces, I don't know if director Burstein would have achieved the same resulting responsiveness of her characters. It's the chance you take when you document any subject, but I think she missed the mark in American Teen as to the teen's believability and sincerity.

The documentary follows the lives of five high school teenagers of different popularity and aspirations who in some way or another affect each other. There's Colin, a jock and star of the basketball team with a college sports scholarship on the line who's being pressured by his team and his family to perform; the attractive and smart Hannah who happens to also be an outcast; then there's the school nerd Jake who seems to have a set future even if he can't seem to fit in with his fellow classmates; the most popular is Megan, who as student council VP, on top of smarts, has wealth and beauty; and rounding out the final five is Mitch, another member of the basketball team, his popularity is clouded by the choices he makes, especially his attraction to Hannah. During the school year we see their trials and tribulations, as they get involved with school tasks, events and their private lives.

To me it was like having the students in a fishbowl and being an outside observer of five persons coming of age and living out their goals and aspirations. Even in their daily lives, the camera follows some of their most intimate moments forcing the viewer to become a spectator to their private world. It is hard to explain. Even though the film is interesting, it is also disturbing in that the teens were not ‘movie stars' playing out a script but ‘guinea pigs' in an experiment, and for some of them, it should definitely not be repeated.

I really don't know what Burstein accomplished with her documentary, other than a possible teen audience that may or may not ‘see themselves' in the characters on the screen. Was it entertainment, maybe, in a dull voyeuristic kind of way...

If you're a teen and you are forced to take your younger sibling along, please note that there is some strong language, drinking and sexual material in the film.

FINAL ANALYSIS: American Teen is an interesting experiment that may be fun for high school teens.

This Reviewer's Rating: 2.5 / 5