Very well executed

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It's been ten years since this "documentary" came out and Nanette Burstein still hasn't fessed up (the way Peter Jackson did, and immediately, with FORGOTTEN SILVER), so we can now call it what it is. It's not a documentary, nor is it (as one reviewer here suggests) a "mockumentary". It's a hoax, and a pretty clumsy one at that. Burstein supposedly studied a group of high school seniors in small-town Indiana, only to discver that -- surprise! -- they're as stereotypical as characters in a John Hughes movie or an episode of THE O.C. or DAWSON'S CREEK. There's the sensitive rebel (Hannah Bailey), the jock (Colin Clemens), the band geek (Jake Tusing) and the snooty campus queen (Megan Krizmanich). Now granted, they may be real teenagers, and their stories may be (more or less) true, but the movie is a virtual symphony of false notes. Tusing's acne seems to clear and re-erupt from one hour to the next. Many scenes (and I frankly think all of them) are patently staged, with visible microphone packs and camera crews on both ends of "spontaneous" phone calls. Tusing downs his first shot of what we are told is tequila, but he doesn't so much as grimace (even seasoned drinkers can't do that without making a face, never mind a tequila "virgin"). Home video dated 1988 shows Clemens a year old, yet he's supposedly 17 in 2006. And Burstein takes a writer's credit, but there's no narration -- so obviously, what she wrote is the "spontaneous" dialogue. The movie is entertaining in its hackneyed way, but so trite and cliche-ridden that the only way Nanette Burstein could hope to get away with it was to claim that it was "real life" that just HAPPENED to be trite and cliche-ridden. That so many people -- not only reviewers here but the jury at Sundance and supposedly sophisticated film critics -- accepted this obvious fiction as an honest documentary speaks volumes about their own gullibility.

It's Warsaw, Indiana and it's the senior year for a group of high school students. Megan Krizmanich is the queen bee and the rich type-A princess. Colin Clemens is the basketball star and closest thing to Jesus. Jake Tusing is the lowly pimply band geek who is intent on getting a girl. Hannah Bailey is the artsy rebel girl with best friend Clark and looking to leave to make movies. She sleeps with boyfriend Joel and they break up. There is a sexting incident and Megan bullies the girl. Colin is under pressure in need of a scholarship.The most obvious question is that if these are even real people. That's a loaded question for a supposed documentary. It seems a lot of it is setup by the filmmaker. It's a little too slick at times. I'm not talking about the animation inserts or the one-on-one interviews. The basic interactions sometimes feel set up. I hope nobody writes dialog for these kids but I wouldn't be surprised if the kids do. The movie does get the awkwardness and uncomfortableness of being a teenager. It just feels like a coat of gloss has been painted on top of any realism.

As of tomorrow at 9:45 p.m., I will no longer be a teenager. It's a great transition, as I enter my adult life. And as such, I have decided to discontinue the star system for rating movies. Applying stars to a movie is highly subjective and discourages readers (and even me) from actually reading reviews. I won't eliminate stars on the first 100 reviews but expect no more. Instead, I will simply recommend or fail to recommend a title. Additionally, I will also begin reviewing videogames. Since I'm very busy with university, work, and my on-campus organization, don't expect too many. Please enjoy my final review written while I was a teenager.I won't be a teenager tomorrow night at this time, so I have less than 24 hours to critique American Teen with complete authenticity. The film is a documentary of sorts about the lives of five teenagers (then high school seniors) as they prepare for college. Director Nanette Burstein shot many hours of footage for this film and carefully chose which should be in the finished product. The result is almost too stylized to be considered a documentary. American Teen lacks the grit of contemporary members of its genre. March of the Penguins was similarly directed, but well edited and brilliantly scored.A guy has pimples while addressing the camera, only to be clear-faced in the next instant. Very strange. That guy, as you may imagine, is the nerdy guy. The other four characters fall into the jock, preppy girl, artistic rebel punk girl, and preppy guy archetypes. They might as well be the cast of the next Ar Tonelico game. All of them are faced with stereotypical problems their social class demands. I was moved, at least, by the characterization each person receives. They aren't just walking drones. The preppy guy begins dating the punk girl at one point and the preppy girl has to overcome her sister's suicide. Young audience members may identify with one of the cast more than most critics would have you believe. Yet despite the inclusion of non-traditional elements, each person adheres to our expectation. People will seldom admit that they are much less complicated than they think. This movie proves it.In my eccentric high school experience, I encountered many people who fit into these categories and additional ones. I won't go into detail, but there wasn't much I could get from this movie that I didn't experience. There is what I consider the film's greatest flaw. As the high school featured is in a small town, only certain types of people are present. My school had approximately 2000 kids at any given time. We had transgendered students, twenty-six different ethnic groups, mentally handicapped students, homosexual students, non-English speaking students, exchange students, and refugee students. A film called American Teen should be from the perspective of members of every group I mentioned and those I didn't see in high school. Religious issues are also absent. A lot of kids struggle with finding their spiritual identity. Why not find someone like that for this movie? A lot of "adults," or people who haven't been in high school for a long time have praised this movie for "showing the real concerns of children." I won't refute the film's ability to do that. If you are one of those people, please remember that the film only addresses a minority of concerns. I didn't dislike the movie, but I felt disappointed while watching it. Here is a documentary that presents us with an aura of its own lack of faith in its ability to be entertaining. People are inherently entertained by learning new things. I don't want a faux Hollywood teen movie with lower production values that isn't as insightful as its bigger counterpart. Heathers or Mean Girls will teach you a lot more about North American teens than this movie will.

Any enjoyment I may have experienced watching this film was killed by a nagging doubt that what I was watching was authentic.Is it just me ... or does this film smell fishy? Not only is the camera ALWAYS in the right place when key events occur but each shot has degree of polish that would seem to have required a lot of advanced planning.This feels like some sort of mockumentary and I'm amazed it has been so positively reviewed. Is America this naive? Even if this film is real, it doesn't give us any more insight into the world of teen cliques than we got 25 years ago from John Hughes films. With most documentaries, there is are questions about what liberties were taken for the sake of the presentation but "American Teen" goes beyond that. I'm hoping Nanette Burstein will soon say, "By the way, I hope everyone realizes this was a gag." Otherwise, she has lost all credibility with me.