American Teen

Featuring Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens, Megan Krizmanich, and Geoff Haase
Directed by Nanette Burstein
Rated PG-13

Documentary filmmaker Nanette Burstein has so adeptly captured the constant ups and downs of the high school that there's as much "I'm glad it's not me" in your reactions as there is "Oh wait, that is me." As her subject, Burstein has chosen Warsaw High School in Warsaw, Indiana, and to draw out the desired results, she leans on the teachings of the man who knows more about teen angst than anyone else: John Hughes.

Sure, the poster emulates The Breakfast Club, but Burstein also uses the characters from that film to instruct her own. Quite proudly, American Teen boasts The Jock, The Geek, The Rebel, The Princess, and The Heartthrob. Burstein follows them through their senior year, which for most of us, is the biggest year of our lives to that point. There's stress about college, relationships, being your own adult, and American Teen manages to capture all of that with painful accuracy.

As with any movie, there are people you root for and people you don't. But the film doesn't guide you in any direction. For example, I didn't absolutely connect with the artistic Hannah Bailey, who is as close to a leading character as the film has. Instinctively, I think Burstein is rooting for her, but I went another way. I still appreciate Hannah's story, because I definitely knew students like her in high school, but in a movie like this more than most others, you'll pick your partner pretty early and stick with him or her regardless of what lies ahead.

Burstein was a co-director of the absolute gem of a documentary called The Kid Stays in the Picture, the film adaptation of legendary producer Robert Evans' autobiography.  She didn't judge Evans, who clearly has his own view of the world and show business, and she doesn't judge the students in this film. Their decisions have immediate and in some cases everlasting effects, and she allows them to make mistakes and celebrate victories in equal measure, watching them learn about life along the way.

It's a tremendously thorough documentary considering it's only 95 minutes long. And what it proves is that high school can be hell, for one day, one week, or four years, the kind of hell you can only get when you're seventeen. A lot of viewers will watch American Teen and look back on their own glory days fondly. This movie is for them as much as it is for those of us who couldn't wait for the whole damn thing to end.