Review of American Teen (2008) by Joshua S — 05 Jul 2009

I really wanted to dig American Teen. It looked like a real-life version of The Breakfast Club and I'm a sucker for high school-related documentaries. In the end though, I just never cared. Maybe it was because most of the kids were never really sympathetic characters or maybe it's because so much of the drama didn't feel real knowing that there was a camera on the kids, but I just could not get into this movie.

I figured the nerd character and the outcast character would be at least somewhat interesting, but they were both whiny and self-loathing. When the loser character keeps reminding me what a loser he is, eventually I'm just going to agree with him and not give a fuck anymore.

The "Princess" was like a bad stereotype from any one of a hundred high school movies: a complete unsympathetic bitch. The closest I ever came to caring about these kids was the Jock, but even then he was still a bit of a cardboard cutout.

The one kid who I was somewhat interested in wasn't a focal point of the movie and isn't really shown much. The movie is well-made, but poorly executed. And why they thought these four kids were compelling is beyond me.

John Hughes' The Breakfast Club, while nearly two decades old, is a more accurate and honest portrayal of high school students. Which is sad, considering these were real high school students. Not recommended.