Jon Peters Reviews: “American Teen”

‘American Teen’ has been marketed as a ‘Breakfast Club’ type of film. It has gathered a lot of hype surrounding its release and while the film does follow the jock, the princess, the geek, the artsy chick, it’s a huge letdown as a documentary. We learn nothing new about high school that wasn’t already known by anyone over 18 or has been said brilliantly in the ‘Breakfast Club’.

The film has a weird feel to it, like something is not right. I know director Nanette Burstein has gone on record to disprove this theory of staging events in the film, but it’s undeniable. The camera seems to be conveniently everywhere, capturing moments that should be random. The camera is at everyone’s house when a nude photo is emailed to get everyone’s reaction shot. There’s a brief interview with the girl in the photo. She’s clearly upset that this little thing she did for a guy she liked spiraled totally out of control, but there’s no further footage with her. This is a story I wanted to follow because the rest of the film is littered with text messaging drama and reality show issues.

Will the jock get the scholarship? Will princess get accepted to Notre Dame? Will the geek find true love? If you’re thinking this sounds uninteresting, it is. Now I know we all personally have gone through this in high school, but why should we go through it again for 90 minutes? ‘American Teen’ reveals nothing new in high school life and begs the question of why did this get made.

It’s not all a lost as Hannah, the artsy chick, is a wonderful story and person. Clearly Burstein knows this as the film revolves around her. After a crushing break-up to a long term boyfriend, she misses 17 straight days of school, which puts her dangerously close to missing graduation. We follow her as she finds a new squeeze, battles with popularity, and tries her hand at going to San Francisco for art and film. Her story is universal and perhaps the only reason to see this film.

Of course everything ends on a good note, so there’s no mystery to where the film is going. Megan, the princess, is a horrible person to spend time with and her jealousy and spoiled attitude is a sad look into bitchdom. She learns nothing and we don’t either. The film feels like a trailer for a series of films to come. If Burstein would follow up on them in a series of documentaries, her goal at presenting ‘American Teen’ as a study into our formative years would be great. We could see how these years affected them into their 20s, 30s and onward. But I suspect we won’t get those. The attempt is admirable but hollow. ‘American Teen’ feels more like a MTV reality show than a thought-provoking documentary.