American Teen
By Marshall Fine
Rating:
Who's in it: Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens
What it's about: This documentary follows four small-town Indiana high-school kids through their senior year.
The real life: They're all here: the homecoming queen, the basketball star, the weird girl, the band geek. Forget "Laguna Beach" - here's the real thing. Director Nanette Burstein ("The Kid Stays in the Picture") spent a year tracking a group of teens as they got ready to make the transition from high school to college.
The camera captures the scandals (a nude photo on the Internet!), the break-ups, the hook-ups, the pranks, the pressures - at a typical middle-American high school. Each of the four main subjects go through changes that anyone can identify with - but even relatively recent grads will be surprised at how much (and how little) school has changed since they were in class. It's surprisingly funny - and touching, too.
Long story short: You'll be fascinated by these young Americans.
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