Review of American Teen (2008) by Jeff C — 19 Aug 2008

I wonder how many people would look back at their highschool days, remember their teenage selves and shake their heads at who they used to be. Especially highschool was such a soap opera, all the gossip, the quest for popularity, or how all us teenagers were concerned over the pettiest little things when there are so many much bigger and more important problems out there. I thought about these things and thought back to my highschool days after watching "American Teen", a documentary following the lives of 4 typical highschool caricatures in their last year of highschool. This includes the popular/beautiful upper class brat (Megan Krizmanich) (I'm sure Megan is going to read critics' reviews of this film, and I wonder how she's going to feel when every critic labels her as a 'brat'), the popular jock who's the star of the basketball team (Colin Clemens), the outcast (Hannah Bailey) who looks a lot like Julia Stiles, and the very funny nerd (Jake Tusing). American Teen has a very obvious credibility flaw as a documentary, however if you can get past that, American Teen is a very enjoyable movie. The 4 characters it follows are very interesting, and I like the way the film explores the 4 different typical highschool caricatures, and I do think the film goes deeper beyond the surface as well of those character types. This film will no doubt make you think back to your own highschool years (for me, I'll say highschool was good, but not even close to being my most memorable years), all the pressures, the good and bad times, the quest and yearning to be popular...the highschool crush, the indecision of what to do the rest of your life, trying to find the prom date, all the gossip, etc.

American Teen has a different, faster and more hyperactive approach to it that I haven't seen in other documentaries. Yes, it may seem like it's pandering to younger people who would normally get bored by the average documentary not directed by Michael Moore, but it's fresh. The film uses a lot of animations...for example one character is hooked on video games, and wants a girlfriend really bad. As he talks about the girl he wants, a videogame animation has an animated version of the nerd riding a horse and conquering the bad guy with his sword to rescue the princess in the animation style of Zelda; it ends with a kiss. This scene is very good looking and very funny.

As I mentioned, there is one big flaw and how much you like the movie will depend on how much you're willing to overlook this flaw. It's the fact that as a documentary, quite a few events in this film look very suspiciously staged to make the movie more interesting. For example, Roger Ebert points out that it's suspicious to have the most popular girl vandalize someone's house, spray painting "fag" on the person's window...on camera. It's like, "Yeah, let's commit a crime, and let the filmmakers document it, having undeniable evidence of my guilt." I laugh thinking about Megan and her friend running away after commiting the crime while the camera man has to frantically flee the scene as well carrying that heavy camera on his/her shoulder, while still filming the subjects. Now, that's a talented camera operator. Or wouldn't it be funny if the house owners chased the guilty vandalizers, and captured the poor camera operator? All jokes aside though, yeah...parts like that will have you screaming, "Bullshit!".

If you can overlook that flaw and just get into the characters, their stories, the pressures they face, their struggles, downfalls and triumphs in what can arguably be the most pivotal/transitional year of their lives, then this is a very enjoyable film.

Jake the band geek will easily get the loudest and most laughs from the audience. Jake has very few friends and therefore wants to find a girl he can really fall in love with. The film follows him in his quest to win over a girl's heart, and later on find a prom date. Anytime he asks a girl out, it's absolutely hilarious! He just says some of the weirdest, most awkward, and unintentionally funny stuff. At one point he says to one girl, "I think we have a lot in common. We both suck at life". There's even a moment he gets dumped, yet his reaction is unlike any reaction you've ever seen over a break up. We see Jake's older brother later in the film and he too is very funny, but quite the opposite of his younger brother. He just wants to get his younger and very under age brother drunk...isn't he kinda committing a crime on camera? I think you could make an entire movie about Jake; he is that funny! I'll give him credit though. I could never in a million years ask a girl out on camera for a documentary.

Hannah Bailey (the outcast) is a liberal person in the very conservative town of Warsaw. She's an artist who feels like she doesn't fit in and wants to get the hell out. Her parents are against her dreams and aspirations of going to L.A to study film. She replies with, "I don't want your life. I don't want to live a 9 to 5 life that I hate."...ouch!

The film also deals with a lengthy depression she suffers due to a break up, and a hopeful new romance between her and the school heart throb later in the film. Her depression is quite heart breaking, and the romance between her and a highschool heart throb is one of the highlights of the movie. I like the conflict of her really liking this guy, but trying not to get too involved, as she wants nothing to hold ehr back from leaving Warsaw and pursuing her filmmaking dreams. (On an unrelated note, I found Hannah to be far more attractive than Megan who's supposed to be the school princess).

That brings us to Megan who's the upper class brat who is very involved with school and gets a lot of pressure from her parents to get into Nortre Dame. We see her get into a lot of petty arguments with her friends, and she does some really cruel things including a very American Pie inspired storyline involving a nude picture (once again, I ask the question...filmmaker manipulated?...still this story was pretty interesting). She would have fit in nicely in "Mean Girls". The film does give some backstory on a tragic past of Megan's, but it still doesn't excuse some of her actions.

And there's Colin who's the start basketball player and who desperately wants to get a scholarship to play for a great college team since his dad can't afford to pay for a good college. All the pressure leads to Colin trying too hard to score too many points, and be a show off to impress potential colleges. This leads to shitty results. This is the least interesting of the few stories, though Colin does have some funny lines here and there, and I like the scenes between him and his dad, when his dad is in Elvis Presley clothes at the Elvisfest. The way this story ends including the lesson Colin learns feels very much like a cliched ending to a typical Hollywood sports movie.

Something that's changed a lot since my days at highschool (I feel so old saying this) is the much more prevalent role that technology plays in these people's lives. Besides that though, the caricatures in the film along with the cliques, and overall mentality of people in highschool hasn't changed that much. It's interesting that this highschool seems to have no problems of gangs, drugs, bullying, or even fights. On the other hand, if the film followed highschool kids' lives in New York City as opposed to small town Warsaw, then it'd be a very different movie. And...does this school not have a yearbook? I remember the last 3 weeks of every highschool year turning into a "sign my yearbook" mania, where we ended up writing the same generic, "It was fun being in class with you. Have a good summer and maybe I'll see you around" comment.

I'm sure a lot of thought went into picking the right people and following their lives and the choices were right. The 4 main characters are likable and dislikable in different ways, but I'm sure the audience can still identify with the ups and downs these characters go through. The film gives us 4 very familiar character types in highschool and uses a documentary approach and give us some depth into these familiar type of characters. The film will remind you of your highschool days, but most of all it's a very entertaining and engaging film. I really enjoyed spending time with these characters, and I wouldn't mind seeing another film 10 years down the road to see where these characters are in life. Hell, I think Jake could have a successful acting career playing an awkward nerd, and if there's ever a biopic made about Julia Stiles, I hope that the filmmaker reads this review and considers Hannah.

After watching this film, I went home and read through my grade 13 yearbook. I struggled to read a lot of the handwriting, and I realized that I didn't even remember half the people that signed my yearbook. Oh well.