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 in my own adolescence). Nanette Burnstein has taken a handful of subjects that we've all seen before (a basketball jock,a band nerd,a mall queen,an artsy introvert,etc.),and show one year in their lives (their senior year in high school)on screen, complete with various interviews of the subjects, all done in a semi cinema verite fore mat (always welcome). The film also features some animated sequences,that manage to crawl into the psyches of some of the subjects (another nice touch). I guess if I have but one tiny quirk about this film, it pretty much manages to only capture one aspect of the American teen experience (as it takes place in the heartland of America,no black,Hispanic or Asian kids are depicted). I'm hoping that if Bernstein decides to produce 'American Teen 2', it will be filmed in an East Coast, urban setting (just to balance things out a little more). Apart from that, I was pretty impressed by it. Parents should see this,to get a view on how their youngsters are conducting themselves when they're not always around (or just don't want to be bothered---until it's too late). I'm talking about teen drinking,smoking,sexual experiences (although,illegal street drugs--i.e. Heroin,Cocaine,Meth,etc.are never mentioned here,but you know they're out there). The film is given a PG-13 rating,due to language & situations mentioned above.
Review of American Teen
