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American Teen (2008)

tomatometer

71

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 150
Fresh: 106 | Rotten: 44

American Teen skates some thin ice with its documentary ethics but, in the end, presents a charming and stylish (if packaged) tale.

76

Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 8

American Teen skates some thin ice with its documentary ethics but, in the end, presents a charming and stylish (if packaged) tale.

audience

58

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 100,820

My Rating

Movie Info

In this biting cinéma vérité, director Nanette Burstein follows a group of five Indiana high-school seniors as they navigate the social mazes of adolescence, prepare for graduation, and generally deal with the often surprising and strange situations that arise simply from being 17. Incorporating intimate footage, interviews, and animation, Burstein reveals all the gritty details about life as a teenager in Midwestern America, from drugs, alcohol, and depression to cliques, first love, and

PG-13, 1 hr. 40 min.

Documentary, Special Interest

Dec 21, 2008

$0.8M

Paramount Vantage

Cast

All Critics (153) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (107) | Rotten (47) | DVD (8)

My only gripe is that the relentless pressure to be a winner in American culture is exhausting to watch.

November 21, 2008 Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | Comment
MovieTime, ABC Radio National
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The whirl of hormones, high hopes and hysterical drama that is high school earns its close-up in American Teen, a smart and revealing look at the Class of 2006 in Warsaw, Indiana.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

They all have their stories tell, some more complicated than others.

August 8, 2008 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | Comment
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A moving and engrossing slice-of-life documentary about teen life in small-town Warsaw, Ind.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

American Teen shows how a documentary can be as moving and suspenseful as the best narrative feature.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

American Teen is The Breakfast Club in real time.

August 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | Comment
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It keeps assuring us that all is basically well.

August 15, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express | Comment
East Bay Express

It pains me to say it, but as far as I can see it's an extended and slightly better crafted example of those fake 'reality TV' shows.

March 13, 2011 Full Review Source: What Culture | Comment

American Teen follows the zeitgeist of documentary filmmaking, where truth is manipulated in order to create an entertaining film, which it no doubt is. Yet the question of its authenticity will linger in the minds of some viewers.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Matt's Movie Reviews | Comment
Matt's Movie Reviews

An intriguing look -- alternately funny and heartbreaking -- inside the heads of today's teens.

July 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Times-Picayune | Comment
Times-Picayune

In contrast to other recent documentaries about coming of age in America, American Teen seems somewhat simplistic, perhaps naive.

May 26, 2009 Full Review Source: About.com | Comment
About.com

An addictive documentary that'll have you cheering and crying, then waiting for the director to jump out from behind your sofa and say it was all a big joke.

March 7, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Funny and fresh, it won't break boundaries but it will make anyone thankful for growing up.

March 7, 2009 Comment
Little White Lies

Anyone who doesn't like it can stay behind after class.

March 7, 2009 Comment
Heat Magazine

The tears and laughter are genuine enough, but Berstein's orchestrations make her less of a fly on the wall than a fly in the ointment.

March 7, 2009 Full Review Source: Sky Movies | Comment
Sky Movies

Although elements of the movie appear stage managed it is still a very watchable document of everyday lives.

March 7, 2009 Full Review Source: Daily Express | Comment
Daily Express

This absorbing doc is a funny, heartbreaking reminder that we're all wounded survivors of the original war zone.

March 7, 2009 Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | Comment
thelondonpaper

Compelling but not especially insightful, this is like watching nine months worth of reality TV in an hour and a half. Parental discretion is advised: if you have teens, this won't cheer you up.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Total Film | Comment
Total Film

Despite its flashy approach, American Teen remains emotionally involving because of the lives on show. You will care about these people, even if you suspect the director doesn't.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

It's a lightly amusing film but it's also an unchallenging one which reinforces presumptions about kids rather than surprising with new insights. It floats in the shallow end of filmmaking.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

The documentary curriculum is sex, gossip and self-pity. Not exactly original, but disturbingly true.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Times [UK] | Comment
Times [UK]

This film was for me marred by the persistent suspicion that the director wasn't being entirely straight with us.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comment
Guardian [UK]
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for American Teen

As I watched the documentary American Teen, my brain kept telling me that this was just another of those posed, fake, "reality" shows. How the heck did the camera get to be in the middle of all intimate moments? In particular there is a scene about 2/3 of the way through in which the camera follows Megan (a snotty

October 15, 2011
maxthesax
paul sandberg

Super Reviewer

"Remember high school? It's gotten worse." A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.REVIEWDocumentarian filmmaker Nanette Burstein's exploration into the 21st Century American teenager is often on the mark but feels very manipulative in examining 4 atypical

September 23, 2008
LorenzoVonMatterhorn
Lorenzo von Matterhorn

Super Reviewer

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Latest News for American Teen

November 11, 2008:
Nanette Burstein Is Going the Distance
"American Teen" didn't live up to the hype at the box office this year, but director Nanette...

July 24, 2008:
Critics Consensus: File The X-Files Under "Disappointing"
This week at the movies, we learn that the truth is out there (The X-Files: I Want to Believe,...

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