American TeenMovie Reviews

Poster art for "American Teen."

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Avg. Critic Score: 66 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 OK for kids 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 100
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Shows how a documentary can be as moving and suspenseful as the best narrative feature. Read full review

  • 91
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    The players are timelessly familiar in American Teen, too. But filmmaker Nanette Burstein tells their stories with a distinctly 21st-century pop and audacity. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Reality tv, welcome to the multiplex. If "The Hills" went back to high school and developed wit, perception and a conscience, it might play something like Nanette Burstein's wallop of a doc. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Though it could work as effectively as a television vehicle, American Teen is revealing, funny and involving. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    American Teen isn't as penetrating or obviously realistic as her "On the Ropes," but Burstein has achieved an engrossing film. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Desson Thomson

    What makes Nanette Burstein's movie so powerful is its uncanny sense of familiarity. Read full review

  • 60
    The Hollywood Reporter | James Greenberg

    For all of its access and exposure, American Teen seems skin-deep. It's well shot, with good production values and lots of cool music. But it's fun and facile in much the same way reality TV is. Read full review

  • 60
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    This is the kind of movie the people in it might have made, which means that its revelatory power as an investigation of teenage life in America is limited. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    Undeniably entertaining for its zippy presentation. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times |

    Here are casual cruelty, crushing heartbreak and pressure from parents and peers, all of which can involve the viewer but are nothing revelatory. Read full review

View more reviews for American Teen on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 15+ Riveting documentary is bound to get kids talking.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this eye-opening documentary was the breakout hit at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and has been heavily promoted via MTV, so teens may well want to see it. It follows real high-school seniors from the small town of Warsaw, Ind., and doesn't flinch from showing them drinking, swearing, smoking, hooking up, and talking about sex. They also worry about their romantic relationships, peer pressure, college applications, scholarships, and grades. There's plenty of manipulative behavior and tons of emotional ups and downs, all of which teens are likely to recognize and identify with -- and parents may find themselves panicking about.
  • Families can talk about how the featured students personify the stereotypes of high school life. Do teens really fall into clear categories like "geek," "misfit," "princess," etc.? Teens: How much do you relate to what's shown in the movie? Which of the kids in the movie do you think you're most like? Parents and kids may also want to discuss some of the behavior shown in the movie. Is cyberbulling as prevalent as the film portrays? What are the consequences? Also, what are the real-life consequences of underage drinking? And are high-school relationships so easily affected by peer pressure?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: A high-school student is fiercely independent and paves her own way through senior year, dealing with inconsistent messages from her parents. A guy gives in to peer pressure and breaks up with someone who's outside his social circle. A rich popular girl is predictably mean and manipulative (including instigating the aforementioned incident of cyberbullying involving sending around topless photos of a "friend") but has family issues to deal with at home. A lonely guy seeks romance; some girls aren't particularly sympathetic or nice to him.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: No violence, but a couple of disturbing scenes include the discussion of a suicide and of Hannah's post-break-up depression.
  • sex false3 Sex: Teens kiss and hold hands. One teenager discusses "doing it," while another sends a boy a topless photo of herself that is subsequently emailed around the school. Very drunk college-aged women kiss each other and a high-schooler.
  • language false3 Language: Teenagers regularly use all of the usual curse words -- "f--k," "s--t," "bitch," "ass," etc. -- throughout the movie.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: The brands aren't "product placement," since this is a documentary, but they're definitely visible: Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Legend of Zelda, Mercedes, Ford, Apple iPods, etc.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Teens are shown drinking heavily and smoking cigarettes. One boy's older brother makes a point of getting the younger man drunk when he comes to visit.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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