Column:
'American Teen' both enlightening and familiar
Published Sept. 17, 2008
Unless you decided at a young age that you were literally too cool for school and went for home-schooling instead, you will love this movie. "American Teen" focuses on the lives of four youths, all of whom who fit as neatly into stereotypes as the characters in "The Breakfast Club": There's the princess, the freak, the jock and the artist.
After seeing the trailer, I thought I knew which character would be my favorite. She jumped out of the screen, flailing her arms, enraptured by music only she could hear. But in the end, the artist (Hannah Bailey), didn't top my list. My favorite character turned out to be the princess (Megan Krizmanich), because she was the one I never knew anything about growing up. She was the one I always wondered about, the one whose home I thought was constructed on a cloud hanging above a lofty mound of the clearest sky.
Megan always had my attention. Following the princess through her trials left my mouth agape. Bailey was fun to watch as the character I most identified with, but during her scenes and interviews I always found myself blushing with embarrassment. The freak (Jake Tusing) had tons of endearing animated sequences, via "The Legend of Zelda," usually featuring him saddled up with a damsel. And I guess there were supposed to be five primary characters, the one I left out being the heartthrob (Mitch Reinholt) whose life in this film is shrouded in what we'll call mystery.
"American Teen" takes a shot at the age-old question, "Why is the grass always greener on the other side?" But director Nanette Burstein's answer - not really - is the one I always stubbornly refused to accept.
This movie was shown this year at the True/False Film Fest, and I didn't see it then. It was on my list of "most attractive titles," but for reasons still unbeknownst to me, I never found myself in line for tickets. Now, I am grateful for my past hesitation. I enjoyed "American Teen," but I didn't love it, which is not Burstein's fault. It's mine.
"American Teen" is set in the Midwest, and throughout the film I was having trouble identifying with the residents. I wonder if kids from inner-city schools also grappled with this. Even so, while my narcissism gets the best of me, Burstein succeeds in capturing a real feel for the treacherous, socially jolting blunders committed in grades nine through 12.
So well, in fact, that I don't want to see it again.
Throughout most of the film, I tried to keep from squirming in reaction to the trip down memory lane. I could hear the deeper laughs from the older bodies behind me as I silently sat in rekindled fear. The only comforting hands on my shoulder were the comical animated sequences Burstein used to express feelings ranging from insecurity to glory.
A better version of this documentary would have taken a deeper look in the jock's (Colin Clemens) life, but other than that there's nothing really very wrong with "American Teen." The pacing never left me with any temptation to divert my view from the screen into a blank stare. Shot composition wasn't beautiful, but it never made me cringe. Really, "American Teen" came too soon for me and I'm much more interested in seeing what Burstein has in store for me next - and hopefully it won't be middle school.