American Teen!!

[Mase]

Man I'm psyched to see "American Teen" this weekend

I'm a sucker for youth documentaries like "spellbound" or "hoop Dreams'.

has anyone had a chance to check "American Teen" yet?

EW gave it an "A", the critics seem to confirm it's amazing!!

[Captain Goliath]

I'm actually going to Toronto for a few days this week/weekend, hope to end up catching this flick sometime while I'm down there.

[Mase]

Just caught it last night,

definatley a must if you enjoy documentaries.

very touching, not exactly what I expected. Much better actually

10/10

[SpikeDurden]

This was an interesting film. It's always strange to be when a reality television show or a nonfiction film based so heavily on personal relationships deals with issues of cheating and wrongdoing, because technically these things are all documented on film for the other characters to see at least later on down the line. So the characters would have to be stupid to lie about what they have done, because there was a camera there filming them. But that's part of the charm of the film, how seemingly oblivious the characters are to the camera. Besides one or two shots where a character is seen with a microphone pack attached to their waistline, and a few random talking head interviews, the film plays more like fiction than anything. Which leads me to believe that much of what we're seeing has been re-recreated or slightly staged. It does bring up some interesting and relevant questions regarding documentary ethics, but I guess one will never truly know.

Still, though, the film is a joy to watch. It's very, very funny and human, with a lot of honesty about the pressures of being a teenager in our modern time, a lot of the experiences the characters go through mirror my experiences in my senior year of high school just 4 years ago. I was easily able to relate and connect to these characters, particularly Hannah who I have the most in common with. It must've been a real task to edit together 10 months of footage into one cohesive and narratively apt story, but director Nanette Burstein and her team of editors have done an excellent job.

Most important is the teens' stories, and while they are not in the least bit unusual that is the true charm of the film, and while the title American Teen is so appropriate. The film captures, if not in a slightly skewed reality (because let's be honest, as soon as the camera is turned on things are never 100% real) what it is like to be a teenager in the mid 2000s, and everything that goes with it. By choosing a truly average middle American town, she is able to epitomize the life of teenagers. And her 4 main characters and multitude of supporting characters are very likable and relatable characters with very real, but never over-the-top problems. Plus, there is a great use of music, and a very clever use of surreal animated sequences throughout the dramatize what is going on inside the characters head.

It's a special film, I just hope it doesn't start a trend into terrible reality filmmaking. What makes this work is the passion, the wit, and the honesty behind it, and the realness of the characters. This is, if you will, the anti-Hills.

8/10

[BanksIsDaFuture]

I hope it goes wide soon. It's PTA wasn't too spectacular this weekend though.

[angelamia]

Thank you Spike for your review. That was well said. I've yet to see it, I moved from LA and it's not here in Austin yet, but I'm definitely interested to see it. I've only read good, glowing reviews, from Sundance reviews, to Rolling Stone, to the New York Times. Although I'm sure some scenarios were staged, I'd still love to see the direction the kids take it in.