Review: ‘American Teen’

Scott:

This docudrama phenomenon has swept the country, and it starting to show up in theaters more and more often. In this case that’s a good thing as ‘American Teen’ combines the lives of 4-6 very intriguing, senior high school students in Warsaw Indiana. The story follows each teen through their final year of high school, the battles they face with school, parents, love, and backstabbing bitch friends!

The most interesting character in the film named Hannah face far more obstacles than the rest of the teens, unless you include Jake’s inability to keep a girlfriend, and lack of self confidence. Each character(i say this loosely because this is a true life doc/movie) has their obvious insecurities and its refreshing to see the popular kids struggle with their selves as much as the wallflowers.

All in all the movie is damn near perfect, it was shot nicely, easy to follow, holds your attention, and very entertaining. However I do have a gripe with the flick, and that is the character Mitch. In the movie he comes out of the blue and professes his undying crush on one of the main characters and instantly you are like..”That doesn’t happen”. The guy is one of the biggest jocks at school, and throws himself at one of the lesser popular girls..almost like he just wants to be one of the major players in this documentary. Go and watch it for yourself and tell me what you guys think about it..its pretty obvious to me.

(4 out of 5 stars)

Ram Man:

American Teen, the new film from Nanette Burstein, is life imitating art.  It’s like she took the John Hughes’ classic “The Breakfast Club” and turned it into a documentary.  It is a fresh look into kids lives and what they deal with in school..the pressures…the pain and the glory.American Teen follows five students: the princess, the rebel, the Jock, the Geek, the heartthrob  through their senior year at a Indiana high-school.

In Indiana basketball is not just a sport, it’s a way of life.  Colin Clemens is the superstar of the Warsaw high-school basketball team. Colin used his talent on the court to obtain a college scholarship so that he can get out of the small town of Warsaw. Colin’s Dad ,an Elvis impersonator also was star of the Warsaw’s basketball team,  provided a constant reminder of why he must move on. The pressure soon begins to crack Colin and reflects in his play on the court jeopardizing his chances of a college scholarship.

Hannah Bailey, the rebel rocker, is the free spirit looking for romance and a ticket out of Warsaw. Hannah is forced to live her grandmother (her parents are divorced and mother suffers from clinical depression). Hannah expresses herself through her art and music with dreams of becoming a film student in California. Senior year turns out to be a struggle. Hannah is dumped by her long time boyfriend and is too embarrassed to return to school. on threat of expulsion she reluctantly returns and soon is involved with Mitch Reinholt (one of the social elite). After attending a party and seeing the reaction from the “beautiful” people Hannah is cut loose again via text message severely damaging her dream of film school in college.

Prom King at Warsaw high is Mitch Reinholt. Mitch is one of the cool kids..popular, handsome and a jock chased by all the girls. Mitch has dreams of leaving town for a college education too. Mitch coasts through senior year until he hits a speed bump named Hannah. Mitch catches her with her band and is smitten with her. Mitch admired Hannah for her spirit and being able to be different. This also the reason he sets her free when he caves to the peer pressure from all of the other “cool” kids. Mitch for such a strong person turns out to be truly week.

Megan Krizmanich, Warsaw’s most likely to succeed in everything! Megan is the princess..cheerleader, student council and member of numerous school organizations. Megan also is commandant to her army of elitists friends. Senior year is Megan’s pressure cooker. She is balancing stress of acing her Sat tests, pressure of her Dad to carry on the family tradition of going to Notre Dame and managing her social calender. Megan release some steam by tormenting a fellow student just for kicks that gets her reprimanded and kicked off Student council that may derail her plans to spend the next four years in South Bend.

Every class in every school has a Geek, and at Warsaw it’s Jake Tusing. Jake (our person fave,you would’ve guessed) is a loner that enjoys his video games and plays in the band. Social suicide. Jake is invisible to everyone..that is..until a new girl comes to the school. Jake sees an opportunity to finally get a girlfriend that is flesh and bones before she learns what a loser he is. Unfortunately for Jake senior year is long and she finds out sooner than later and he’s on his own again. Jake is back to land of videos and his plans of being ladies man in college are deteriorating.

American Teen is a fresh look at what kids go through on a daily basis at school. I recommend kids take their parents to see this one. I really enjoyed Hannah and her struggles to succeed. American Teen was like entering a time machine that took me back to my days at school. I was a jock,there was the geek that was locked in his locker, there was the beautiful elite that hovered above the rest of us. I never thought i would want torevisit high-school, but seeing American teen is a way to take care of it.

(4 out of 5 stars)

Travis:

Producer/director Nanette Burstein (The Kid Stays in the Picture) returns with her second feature-length documentary called ‘American Teen’ … and no, its nothing to do with American Idol. The film follows a group of Midwestern high school students as they approach graduation. The narrative focuses on four students, each of whom fit into a pre-subscribed typical high school stereotype … Colin is the “jock” as the star of the basketball team; Megan is the “princess” as a popular selfish girl from a wealthy family; Jake is the “nerd” but is actually more a mix of “nerd, dork, geek and freak” all rolled up into one package; and finally there’s Hannah as the “outsider” who’s outgoing, artistic free-spirit and passion for being herself makes her by far the most interesting and enjoyable character in this film.

Its true, this is being billed as a documentary and for the most part … it is, but not in the traditional sense. The movie feels a bit more like an MTV-style quasi-reality TV program at times due to the fact that the students are fully aware of the documentary crew at all times. Plus, they’re teenagers … attention is numero uno on their social priority lists. Regardless, there remains plenty of truth in this film. I found myself relating with the movie in clearly, if not frighteningly accurate, ways and could empathize with the character’s ups and downs quite readily.

‘American Teen’ falls somewhere between ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘Kids’ in terms of its content and contemporary relevance. In the end, all four (plus one) teenagers followed in the film offer a short update on where their lives have gone so far since the filming of ‘American Teen’ and I was pleased to see that they’ve all done relatively well. I would have hated to find out they’ve wandered down the wrong paths, seeing as these were real people and not just characters. Despite the difficult times and less inspiring moments, ‘American Teen’ does manage to offer some hope for our current teen generation(s).

(4 stars out of 5)

[rating: 4/5]