Indie Review: AMERICAN TEEN

A mini-review for College Road Trip, 2008's shrillest and loudest film of the year, can be read HERE.



American Teen



Starring- Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens, Jake Tusing, Megan Krizmanich, Mitch Reinholt, Geoff Haase



Directed by Nanette Burstein


Grade: D+

"You could've gotten an A."

Sometimes documentaries are used to convince viewers to think a certain way. Others merely offer a glimpse of its' subject, and leave the audience to interpret what actions should follow. Being the latter, American Teen has an intimate take on the lives of these high school students that many times parallel the lives that we've all had as students. But while that unity and common bond through moments of joy and suffrage may be the ultimate goal of the film, American Teen doesn't really offer anything new, nor at times does it particularly convincingly.

The film follows five teens during their senior year of high school in Warsaw, Indiana. On the outside looking in, you can stereotype each student; Megan is the affluent snob in the popular cliques. Jake is the acne-scarred nerd with no friends. Hannah is the independent free spirit that roams the social circles. Colin is the golden boy athlete. Mitch is Colin's teammate, but has a streak of independence as well.

But as the film unfolds, each student has deeper emotional scarring, some from the high school experience itself, some from their home life. Colin has pressure to get a basketball scholarship, and isn't as solid in popularity as one might think. Hannah continually breaks her strong will for boys and the pursuit of happiness. Jake breaks out of his anti-social , but burns his bridges really quickly. Megan deals with the death of a sister, and going to Notre Dame isn't just a priority for her, but almost an ultimatum from her family.

The common thread that gets noticed throughout is the parenting. All five kids have parents together except for maybe Jake's, who aren't even featured. Megan's father calls her an idiot when she helps toilet paper and spray-paint a rival's house. Hannah's parents try to bring sense to her, but their words are choosy. Colin's father (an Elvis impersonator) is backhandedly supportive, giving advice while telling his son he is never quite good enough. The questionable logic behind the parenting these adults do is often more interesting and telling than anything the teenagers do.

Unfortunately, while director Nanette Burstein (On The Ropes, The Kid Stays In The Picture) gives a simple, straightforward approach to the direction, it also feels pretty fake. There's an understanding that the editing process is heavily manipulated sometimes in the effort to make a conceivable and hard-hitting film, but as American Teen goes on, we notice parts of the same day, people wearing the same shirts and sitting in the same restaurants throughout the film. I'm sure they covered an entire year, but this realization took me personally, out of the honesty of the film.

I'm not saying anything in the film was scripted, but the way the film unfolds seems based more on an episode of The Hills than Hoop Dreams. The drama the subjects face isn't anything much more than stuff anyone of that age group would face, but American Teen revels in its potboiler drama. Like Burstein sat for eight hours filming one kid, and got excited when they slipped up and said something stupid. The poster above that parodies The Breakfast Club says it all; American Teen vies to create a seminal movement in film, than to create an actual merit.

Also distracting from the major element of the film are the animation vignettes. One of the teenagers could be telling a real, heartfelt story, and Burstein breaks the talking head interview up with animated representatives. These little scenes only further distances the entire project from reality, especially Jake's scenes involving a World Of Warcraft-like fantasy world.

American Teen offers a glimpse of the typical life of a teenager in America, if only a prorated portion aimed at sensationalizing the high drama that normal teenagers get themselves into. There are some genuine moments, but overall the film doesn't truly strike a nerve into the class system in high school, nor does it offer anything exciting or different from any other documentary or insightful biopic of the American way of life.