American Teen

I kept thinking throughout the whole film that there was something inauthentic to it. It seemed staged. Manufactured. Not all of it but certain plot points seemed "created". That kept me from really enjoying the film. Additionally, Megan's Hate Crime goes... Full review

Hats off to the A&E Network for bankrolling this slight, but interesting slice of life at a mid Western high school, where cliques, depression,peer pressure,sexual/chemical experimentation is ever a slice of life (I know, as I went through all of it,myself... Full review

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... Full review

I always just assume, as I'm dragging my tired ass out of bed, into the shower, out the door, into the subway and up the 22 flights of stairs to my tiny box my boss calls a cubicle that any teenager... Full review

A mediocre movie that depicts a series of true life characters in their senior high school year. Unfortunate for the viewer that wants to see a more in-depth understanding as to why the teens behavioral patterns are how they are depicted... Full review

American Teen, the latest documentary from Nanette Burstein (The Kid Stays in the Pictures / On the Ropes) is equally fascinating and moving. It follows the senior year of four High School students in Warsaw, Indiana. Burstein and her crew... Full review

I took my thirteen year old daughter to see this movie last night and it was a decision well made on my part. This was part of the Los Angeles Film Festival so we had a DJ and a band... Full review

I couldn't help but watch this film and think how incredibly empty it was. When if anything it should be the opposite. The makers of American Teen place themselves in the lives of a classes senior year of school. We are... Full review

I did security for a premier on this movie a couple of days ago. It was hard to do my job, making sure nobody was recording this movie because it was such a great movie. I recommend everyone sees it.... Full review

Today the high school I student-teach at offered a special screening of "American Teen" after school, with promotional flyers and buttons and everything. (The buttons were very cute, btw - all different high school stereotypes.) Having seen a trailer previously,... Full review

Colin's father, a celebrated high school athlete, won't pay for college, insisting that his son win a sports scholarship, the implication being that he wants Colin to achieve what he only aspired to. In Burstein's eyes, it's the parents who are to blame for many of the pressures the teens grapple with, and for the unchanging atmosphere of high school. ... Full Review

Teammate Mitch Reinholt is a classic American gentleman-jock, bright, well-liked, studious. And I doubt most paying customers will mind if "American Teen" seems, on some level, phony. It's crippling enough to cast doubts on her graduation. ... Full Review

Teammate Mitch Reinholt is a classic American gentleman-jock, bright, well-liked, studious. American Teen is as close to fraudulent And I doubt most paying customers will mind if American Teen seems, on some level, phony. ... Full Review

Burstein's greatest success in Teen is in stressing the uniqueness of each of these kids by revealing them to be creatures who are much more complex than appearances allow. But in its gentle exposition and in-depth character studies, Teen heartily proves the second, less obvious part of that thesis: Everyone's high school experience is unique. ... Full Review

Like any other feature film where cliques run rampant and teenage hormones get the best of everyone, Burstein packages it, and does it with a little more bubble wrap than we would have liked. You want to believe what you see, but its far too implausible for everything to be authentic. ... Full Review

Hey, everyone.Moriarty here.Its been a rough summer for documentaries at the box-office, but a few films have managed to break through and at least create a bit of buzz. ... Full Article

American Teen (PG-13) (95 min.)"Fake" isn't a word that should be applied to any documentary. Yet it continually popped into my head while watching Nanette Burstein's pseudo-cinema verite, tracing the senior year of students at a small-town Indiana high... ... Full Article

The jock, the artist, the princess, the geek.Could director Nanette Burstein have reduced the suburban American high school experience to four bigger, more obvious stereotypes? ... Full Article

American Teen **** Hannah Bailey, Jake Tusing. Documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein gained the confidence of five students at an Indiana high school for this close-up look at the hopes, frustrations, fears and heartaches of typical real-life teenagers and came away... ... Full Article

You wont find any sexual encounters with Moms apple pie or a hole in the wall between the girls and boys shower rooms in American Teen. ... Full Article