Average "American Teen"

The documentary "American Teen" had a lot of potential. It won Best Audience at Sundance and promised to deliver a different look at "real teens of the Midwest: the jock, outcast, geek, homecoming queen, and heartthrob."

*Spoiler Alert*

Instead, "American Teen" delivered a predictable, contrived, and staged depiction of its characters.

Predictable: The economically-challenged jock overcomes a weak season and finally lands a basketball scholarship; after two break-ups within approximately two weeks, the outcast learns to love herself and then moves out to California to pursue film; the geek finally gets a girl; the homecoming queen is accepted into Notre Dame -- and after sexually harassing a fellow student, still manages to deliver the Valedictorian speech; the heartthrob is elected Homecoming King with few road bumps.

Contrived: The jock slacked in school, threatening his chances to get a scholarship; the outcast falls into a manic depressive spell after being dumped; the geek is so geeky because he's in "the band" and used to be short; the homecoming queen is such a bitch because her mentally challenged sister committed suicide; and the heartthrob is an asshole because he wants to impress his friends.

Staged -- First of all, the documentary claims to have followed these kids for their entire high school career, but clearly there weren't hidden cameras set up in every room of their houses, cars, etc. When the outcast gets broken up with BY TEXT by THE HEARTTHROB, we conveniently see the text, which in perfect spelling and grammar says: "I hope we can still be friends." Please. The cameras conveniently follow the outcast as she takes melancholic walks by rivers and curls into the fetal position in her bed with convenient tears spilling down her cheeks.

I felt as though a major part of the high school life was absent in the documentary. Sure there were a couple of beers and cigarettes, but there weren't any references to drugs, and the sex was only referenced in conversation. One of the most shocking scenes was when one of the popular girls sends a topless photo to two male friends. We SEE each character forwarding the photo to 10 more friends. Were cameras seriously focusing on the screen every time these kids used the computer? Also, the geek's first girlfriend ALLOWED cameras her home and pool as she cheated on the geek.

Without rehashing the entire movie, it seemed as though the director and "writer" Nanette Burstein had a conception about high school and found characters to best fill in the voids instead of letting the audience reach its own judgements. From the start, she defines the students in the terms "geek, outcast, etc" pushing expectations and stereotypes we wouldn't necessarily have reached on our own. The relationship between the outcast and heartthrob happens so seamlessly that Burstein stuffs in dialogue about bending social norms in order to heighten the drama.

Audiences might also complain about the homogeneity of the students. EVERY student is white and Christian. I didn't mind that aspect so much because Burstein doesn't promise to show THE high school experience, rather the experience of students at this school in Indiana. Tossing in the "black" perspective or "lesbian" perspective would have felt contrived.

The one redeeming part of the movie was that were some really neat animated fantasy scenes. For instance, the geek loved the Zelda video game, and in one scene, his acne-plastered face showed up on the body of the hero's. Other gems included the jock's father as an Elvis impersonator, the outcast's funky outfits, and the geek's first time getting drunk.

But for the most part, I'd seen everything before. Maybe not in my own Baltimore high school, but in TV shows such as Degrassi, Gossip Girl, or Saved by the Bell. Burstein seemed confused about the story she wanted to tell. On the one hand, there was a somewhat of an arch for each character that climaxed at just the right time, right before graduation, mimicking a sitcom or teen romance flick. On the other hand, Burstein seems like she wants to take the film somewhere else through the animation. I have to admit, I wondered what happened to these kids after they graduated, and the brief "Where Are They Now" blurbs at the end were unsatisfying.

Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

I'd give it a B-... good movie to watch if you have the flu, but nothing to plan a movie night around.

And Merry Christmas! I'll be at the TV station, spreading the Christmas cheer to TV sets around Maryland.