American Teen intimately follows the lives of four teenagers in one small town in Indiana through their senior year of high school. Using cinema vérité footage, interviews, and animation, it presents a candid portrait of being 17 and all that goes with it. We see the insecurities, the cliques, the jealousies, the first loves and heartbreaks, the experimentation with sex and alcohol, the parental pressures, and the struggle to make profound decisions about the future.

Nanette Burstein returns to Sundance (On the Ropes won a Special Jury Prize at the 1999 Festival) with a film that is an incredible window into a time of development almost everyone can relate to. She filmed daily for 10 months, developing a remarkably close rapport with these students and their families. The kids open up in her presence and lay bare their lives. That exemplifies her incredible talent for storytelling and uncovering the many layers of truth in her subjects, creating a film that is astonishing from shooting to editing.

In American Teen, the stories coalesce into a narrative so engrossing that it resembles fiction more than documentary. The end result is a film that goes beyond the stereotypes of high school—the nerd and the jock, the homecoming queen and the arty misfit—to capture the complexity of young people trying to make their way into adulthood.
- Sundance Film Guide

ExP: Molly Thompson, Nancy Dubuc, Rob Sharenow, Elisa Pugliese, Patrick Morris
Pr: Jordan Roberts, Nanette Burstein, Eli Gonda, Chris Huddleson
Ci: Laela Kilbourn
Ed: Mary Manhardt
Mu: Michael Penn

Sundance BuzzCheck^TM: 'American Teen'

Jan 20, 2008, 12:19 AM | by Joshua Rich

The buzz on American Teen - a documentary feature that follows four small-town Indiana high schoolers through their senior year - was quite high coming into Sundance. That much was clear as festival officials jammed as many bodies as they could into the 448-seat Library Center theater. And by the roar of approval from the audience at the end (not to mention the huddles of potential buyers both inside and outside of the auditorium), I'd say the fest has perhaps its first true hit. Expect more tomorrow after I speak with director Nanette Burstein and the students in the film. -Adam B. Vary

American Teen  (Documentary)

By DENNIS HARVEY

Feature charts a year in the lives of four high school seniors in primarily white, middle-class Warsaw, Ind. -- albeit with all the boring and routine parts mysteriously absent from edited-within-an-inch-of-its-life package.  Hannah proudly considers herself (along with a sexually ambiguous best male friend) an arty, unconventional misfit amid the "total caste system" of their vanilla environ.

She's glad to be well off the social radar of Megan, an overachieving rich girl whom Hannah (not alone) considers "the biggest bitch" in school. On the other hand, Colin manages to be a nice guy despite his star status on Warsaw High's highly rated basketball team.

Falling outside all social orbits is temporarily acne-plagued Jake, a self-described "marching band supergeek" who's got no friends, no girlfriend and subzero self-confidence.

While anxiously considering their post-high school options, subjects each undergo crises. Most dramatic is Megan's complete meltdown after a boyfriend of two years dumps her. Fearful of having inherited her mother's manic depression, she sinks into such a funk that she risks flunking out.

Later she finds an unlikely new beau in sweet-natured jock Mitch, who finds her "refreshing." But his high-caste circle predicts it won't last -- and will likely ensure it doesn't.

Speaking of Megan, she exhibits some inexcusably childish and vindictive behavior toward others -- though admittedly she's under considerable family pressure to get accepted to Notre Dame. We also learn late about a recent tragedy that may well explain what mom calls her inner rage.

Colin, too, is under a lot of stress: Everyone expects him to excel on the court, with Elvis impersonator dad constantly reminding him that his college chances depend on getting a sports scholarship. Meanwhile, self-defeating Jake is humiliated by his first g.f., though better luck lies ahead.

This is all involving stuff, but it plays like a highlight reel in which melodrama often seems artificially heightened. When the camera catches two future sweethearts making eyes at each other in a crowded room, before they've even met, "American Teen" feels suspiciously rigged.

Somewhere between manipulative and condescending is the MTV-like use of pop tunes to underline obvious emotional notes. Ditto elaborate animated sequences that caricature the subjects' dreams and fears -- Brothers Quay-like grunge imagery interprets Hannah's depression, sword-and-sorcery cliches mock Jake's nerd fantasy life, etc. In Burstein's acclaimed prior nonfiction feature, "The Kid Stays in the Picture" and Oscar-nommed "On the Ropes," the style suited the content. Here, style seems to be dictating content.

Package is glossy to a fault. But one thing missing is any sense that "American Teen" has something specific to say about teenagers now. There's nothing about the cliquishness, personal problems, alcohol usage and apparent sexual activity here that's any different from the Middle American teen experience a generation or more ago.

Camera (color, HD cam), Laela Kilbourn, Wolfgang Held, Robert Hanna; editors, Mary Manhardt, Tom Haneke, Burstein; original music, Michael Penn; music supervisor, Chris Douridas; supervising sound producer-sound designer, Michael Chock; sound mixer, Anna Rieke; animation, Blacklist; casting, Tamra Barcinas. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (competing), Jan. 19, 2008. Running time: 100 MIN.