When I first saw the poster for American Teen, I immediately lost all interest.  It looked like some sort of updated parody of The Breakfast Club.  After seeing the trailer, however, I felt quite the opposite.  This documentary by Nanette Burstein gives us an insider’s view of Middle America, and life in High School.  Instead of trying to draw any judgments or conclusions about the teenagers featured, American Teen simply lets their actions speak for themselves.  The good, the bad, and the ugly; we see it all.

Major players in the film, set in Warsaw, Indiana, are Jake (the geeky Band nerd); Hannah (the rebel/artsy girl who feels completely out of place); Colin (the jock); and Megan (the class Princess).  There are other teenagers who make there way in and out as minor players, but those four are the center of the action.  Amazingly, while no teenager is one-dimensional, all of them fall generally into the stereotypical categories you might expect.  But, as in The Breakfast Club, each deals with their own pressures, their own insecurities, and their own demons.

Hannah hates Indiana, and dreams of going to film school in San Francisco.  But she is terrified of developing the mental illnesses her mother suffers from, and she’s basically living on her own, without a solid support system.  Jake can’t find a girl, and feels utterly insecure and beaten-down.  As he puts it, he “sucks at life” and is looking for a “sock to be paired with.”  He has terrible acne, is short, and spends most of his time playing video games.  Colin cannot afford college, so he needs to shine on the basketball court and get a scholarship.  Otherwise, its probably the army for him.  And Megan constantly tries to derive power over, and support from, her circle of friends, while agonizing over whether she’ll get into Notre Dame (where her father and all but one sibling attended college).

There are many sweet moments in the film, and some which leave you scratching your head wondering if these teenagers will look back at their actions in shame.  To those of us who grew up in a different time, the lack of real connections between most of these kids is frightening.  They break up by text message, or sit and text message other romantic interests right in front of their boyfriends and girlfriends.  When one girl sends her boyfriend a topless photo, it quickly is seen on every area cell phone, and eventually on its own web site.  Yet later in the film, that same poor girl is sitting happily at a table with the girls who distributed it.  Everything means everything, and yet nothing means anything. 

American Teen has gotten rave reviews, and I’m happy to join in the group of those who thoroughly enjoyed the film.  Go see it.