Cinafilm has over 5 million movie reviews and counting …
Sitemap
Search

Last updated: 19 Jul 2026 at 19:28 UTC

Back to movie details

Review of by Kelley H — 02 Dec 2009

Share
Tweet

While an interesting glimpse into teen lives, those focused on in this documentary hardly typify the "American" teen experience. In the shiny absence of people of color, the kids featured were, for the most part, quite well off and most certainly privileged.

Even the issues at the core were trite--getting into college, catching the guy/girl, losing the guy/girl, recreational chemical use, the in club/the geek group... Most of the themes were non-issues, in that at no point was there a question that the kids *would* go to college.

The tension was around *where* each would go. They all bounced from love interest to love interest relatively well, save Hannah, and while the majority of chemical use took place in a posh home, parents didn't seem to care.

If the idea was to document the concerns and lifestyle of American Teens from the 70s, this was right-on. Not so much for the modern, more worldly wise teen.

This review of American Teen (2008) was written by on 02 Dec 2009.

American Teen has generally received positive reviews.

Was this review helpful?

Yes
No

More Reviews of American Teen

More reviews of this movie

Share This Page

Share
Tweet

Popular Movies Right Now

Movies You Viewed Recently

Get social with CinafilmFollow us for reviews of the latest moviesCinafilm - TwitterCinafilm - PinterestCinafilm - RSS