Reviewed by Lewis Bazley
Stars Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens, Jake Tusing,
Megan Krizmanich, Mitch Reinholt,
Geoff Haase, Ali Wikalinska
Written by Nanette Burstein
Certification UK 15 | US PG-13
Runtime 85 minutes
Directed by Nanette Burstein
Burstein's documentary follows five students - jock Colin, geeky Josh, queen bee Megan, misfit Hannah and heartthrob Mitch - through their senior year of high school. With college scholarships to be earned, friendships and relationships won and lost and peer and parental pressure combining, how will our five cope with the terrifying thought of adulthood approaching?
Hannah may be smart and beautiful, but she doesn't fit in at her Indiana high school, while Megan has popularity and power but huge expectations from her Notre Dame graduate father. Colin's entire future is at stake as he tries to win a basketball scholarship, Jake is struggling to find the girlfriend he thinks will complete him and well-liked Mitch's social status could be at threat when falls for a girl from a different clique. Although there's some suggestion that some scenes in American Teen have been "created for entertainment purposes" - as with the markedly more artificial likes of The Hills - the fact that Burstein's cameras seem very conveniently placed at times doesn't detract from the overall success of this absorbing and amusing documentary.
The director splits screen time cleverly between her entirely watchable leads - though the ambitious and spiritedly individual Hannah is the one we're always eager to return to - and with an audience-friendly soundtrack, some innovative - if indulgent - visual flair and character arcs that are all the more involving because of their reality, it's a film that will make you glad to have left the pressure cooker of senior school. Thanks to some real, flawed and human subjects, a terrifyingly manipulative pantomime villain in the shape of Megan and some hilariously geeky moments from Josh, American Teen is a return to puberty you won't want to avoid.
• Official UK Site
• American Teen at IMDb
• Review supplied by Inthenews.co.uk