In the broadcast-first, think-later world of reality television, there is rarely so much as a moment allotted for true introspection. Facebook, YouTube and camera phones have dulled our minds and bloated our egos. A person’s every waking thought must be aired in some quickly digestible, easily downloadable format.
But the rebirth of the “me” age has its boons as well. Occasionally, an intelligent slice of “real” life – “real,” in this case, meaning emotionally believable – makes it through the gatekeepers and into the mass market.
American Teen, though more entertaining than reflective, respectfully follows its subjects through their senior year of high school in the predominantly white, middle-class community of Warsaw, Ind. Documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein (The Kid Stays in the Picture) wisely keeps her hands out of the action, allowing her spectacular cast of real characters to speak for themselves.
There probably isn’t a whole lot of replay value in the film, but on first pass, American Teen is both sweet and sassy enough to warrant an aside from the endless slew of summer blockbusters.
The gossipy premise – follow a John Hughes-worthy assortment of teenage stereotypes for 10 months; and let the drama unfold – immediately conjures up images of primetime, MTV-produced garbage. But ultimately, Burstein’s modest aims for American Teen keep the film grounded – you won’t find the Lauren, Heidi and Spencers of the world here.
The film eventually falls back on more reassuring storylines – documentary or not, American Teen is still prone to the oft-predictable traits of the Hollywood teen flick. Everyone’s identity crises all end in varying forms of crowd-pleasing resolutions. Yet the stories and characters are credible, even loveable at times. It all makes for some rather juicy, “Oh no he/she didn’t!” hilarity any high school graduate should be able to relate to.
Hannah Bailey stars as the out-of-sorts, rebellious girl; Colin Clemens is the struggling basketball star; Megan Krizmanich is the bitchy overachiever; Jake Tusing is the band geek; and Mitch Reinholt is the bland (yet handsome) jock. From beginning to end, Bailey is the clear fan favorite, the most interesting and reliable of narrators. Inevitably, we see Warsaw through her eyes.
Bailey’s struggle with fitting in at Warsaw and her preparation to take flight from the town may not transcend its generic coming-of-age story, but she’s compelling enough to really sell her plight. When the film steers away from Bailey as she deals with depression and an extended absence from school, American Teen loses considerable momentum but still banks on the reliable supporting cast.
The other outsider, Tusing, picks up a good deal of the slack with his failed attempts at chivalric dating. At one point, Burstein literally places Tusing in his video game fantasy, an amusing mock-up of a Zelda scenario.
The pop-documentary gimmick, though effective for Tusing, wears thin when applied to every other character. In Bailey’s case, the Tim Burton-esque graphics become an absolutely tacky way to visualize the girl’s fears of lapsing into her mother’s manic depressive state. Though the cartoon scenes constitute a very small portion of the film itself, they prove horribly disruptive, especially given the strength of the main characters.
Parents, and sometimes filmmakers, just don’t understand.
Fortunately, Burstein recovers from the brief stylistic mistakes and keeps the rest of the film focused on the precious teenage drama. Things get catty at times – American Teen sits right on the fence between documentary and big-screen reality television – but with minimal interference, the narrative unfolds naturally.
Krizmanich, at first dislikeable on her difficult road to acceptance at her father’s alma mater, Notre Dame, grows over the 10-month period into a far more complex character than she is when we first meet her. Clemens, though not as plain as Reinholt, has a little more trouble commanding the screen as he tries to secure a place in college by performing well enough to attract recruiters.
From the first day of senior year to prom and beyond, American Teen’s anecdotal musings never really illuminate or explore anything new – kids can be cruel, and high school is a shared horror we all eventually repress.
Hopefully, at the expense of our entertainment, the five Warsaw graduates won’t be retelling their stories one day on a therapist’s couch. More likely, they will do as most teenagers do: disappear into the masses of once-teenagers, the wiser, slightly less self-absorbed suits, ties and dresses around the country.
zherrm@umd.edu
RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars
