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American Teen review
:. Director: Nanette Burstein
:. Genre: Documentary
:. Running Time: 1:35
:. Year: 2008
:. Country: USA
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The director and producer of the sublime The Kid Stays in the Picture takes on American teenagers, chronicling 4 seniors from Warsaw, Indiana for 10 months as they navigate who they are and what they want before graduation. They're average and recognizable: the bitchy prom queen, the artsy outcast, the fun-loving jock and the dorky geek looking for love.
Warsaw, Indiana, as one teen puts it, is "mostly white, mostly Christian and Red State all the way", a dying breed in America and it would be interesting to see why the director chose this Midwestern Breakfast Club group (other than the obvious promotional marketing tie-in with the 80's film).
The difference, of course, it that this modern day Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson text each other all day long, have grown up watching reality TV and have no qualms about sharing anything and everything personal. It's all up for grabs on the camera, and they know it. Witness what happens when an enamored teen sends a topless photo of herself via phone to a would-be suitor. Also problematic in this documentary is that we are allegedly watching emails and texts being sent and read in real time. Were there 4 camera crews documenting every move, or was there some manipulation? Some scenes seem staged and others seem intrusive.
An entertaining element is the way that Burstein uses different animation sequences to create the fantasies of each teen, from the video game nerd's obvious good versus evil fantasy to the prom queen's vision of college as a perfect paradise with a better quality person.
The documentary is funny, sleek and never veers too far from superficial high school movie conceits — there are no big surprises here. While we have some insight as to why Hannah, Colin, Jake, Megan and Mitch do what they do; ultimately is American Teen just chasing its own tail?
Anji Milanovic
 Documentary Reviews: 1998 - 2011
Documentary Reviews: 2012 - present
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