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Using a smartly assembled blend of archival footage and well-made re-enactments, Teenage surveys the rise of adolescent culture with tenderness and wit.
All Critics (65) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (15)
A roughly chronological jumble of archival footage, unconvincing period reenactments, gauzy voice-overs, and half-baked ideas that makes one yearn for the stolid dullness of a History Channel documentary. May 22, 2014 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…
A roughly chronological jumble of archival footage, unconvincing period reenactments, gauzy voice-overs, and half-baked ideas that makes one yearn for the stolid dullness of a History Channel documentary.
Ty Burr
Deftly weaves together various media in a way that breathes its own youthful, stream-of-conscious life into the documentary genre. May 22, 2014 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…
Deftly weaves together various media in a way that breathes its own youthful, stream-of-conscious life into the documentary genre.
Jen Chaney
There's no "there" there in "Teenage," a meandering mess of a documentary that has the feel of a bloated, inchoate term paper. May 8, 2014 | Rating: 1.5/4
There's no "there" there in "Teenage," a meandering mess of a documentary that has the feel of a bloated, inchoate term paper.
Tom Keogh
Wolf's sympathy for youth movements compensates for the distraction of the new scenes, and the fascinating old footage seals the deal. Apr 24, 2014 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Wolf's sympathy for youth movements compensates for the distraction of the new scenes, and the fascinating old footage seals the deal.
Walter V. Addiego
If Teenage delivers a sweeping generalization or two (or three) ... Wolf's documentary makes up for it with footage that's just too good to be ignored. Apr 18, 2014 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
If Teenage delivers a sweeping generalization or two (or three) ... Wolf's documentary makes up for it with footage that's just too good to be ignored.
Steven Rea
Director Matt Wolf uses startling archival footage to capture the rise of pre-Elvis youth culture as the defining surge of the 20th century. Mar 21, 2014 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…
Director Matt Wolf uses startling archival footage to capture the rise of pre-Elvis youth culture as the defining surge of the 20th century.
Owen Gleiberman
It is [an] extremely accomplished and suggestive work, but it also lacks the clarity and insight into the subject matter that is present in the book. It is a film that bewitches in the screening but lingers less in the aftermath. Mar 6, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…
It is [an] extremely accomplished and suggestive work, but it also lacks the clarity and insight into the subject matter that is present in the book. It is a film that bewitches in the screening but lingers less in the aftermath.
Ben Nicholson
An interesting, idiosyncratic piece that, thanks to an excellent edit, creates the impression that we are somehow following one single generation throughout the four decades represented. Feb 28, 2019 | Full Review…
An interesting, idiosyncratic piece that, thanks to an excellent edit, creates the impression that we are somehow following one single generation throughout the four decades represented.
Naila Scargill
The collage effect recalls Ken Burns' documentaries for PBS, particularly since Wolf also occasionally inserts still photographs towards which he zooms in slowly in order to approximate movement. Aug 22, 2017 | Full Review…
The collage effect recalls Ken Burns' documentaries for PBS, particularly since Wolf also occasionally inserts still photographs towards which he zooms in slowly in order to approximate movement.
Kathy Fennessy
The documentary's enjoyable to watch, and refreshingly not tongue-in-cheek. There's a toughness at its core that gives it great value. Aug 8, 2017 | Full Review…
The documentary's enjoyable to watch, and refreshingly not tongue-in-cheek. There's a toughness at its core that gives it great value.
Betsy Sherman
This movie does have interesting snippets of history about people on society's fringes, especially people who were way ahead of their time in terms of youth culture, but if you want a better overview of this issue, you will have to read the book. Feb 2, 2015 | Rating: C | Full Review…
This movie does have interesting snippets of history about people on society's fringes, especially people who were way ahead of their time in terms of youth culture, but if you want a better overview of this issue, you will have to read the book.
Robert Roten
Arty yet superficial treatment of provocative subject matter... Nov 13, 2014 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
Arty yet superficial treatment of provocative subject matter...
John Beifuss
A companion piece to the book Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture, 1875-1945. As the title states we're exploring the development of youth culture from 1875 to 1945. So, this film does not venture into teen culture of the 1950s, 1960s, or beyond. This was the most disappointing part, that the doc did not draw any connections between this time period and the decades to come. The young actors styled to look like teens of various times and places with journal entries narrated to tell their specific stories worked well. However, it is all the archival materials that bring the formation of the term teenagers to life.
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