American Teen

From the desk of The Movie Snob

American Teen (B+). This is a documentary about four high school seniors in the small town of Warsaw, Indiana. It reminded me of MTV's The Real World, in that it purports to be simply documentation about people's real lives, but you have to believe that the presence of the cameras affects the subjects' behavior to some extent. I enjoyed it. The "star" of the quartet is clearly Hannah Bailey, the out-of-step, artistic, sensitive, musical gal who has had some trauma in her family life and who is itching to run away to California and pursue film studies as soon as she graduates. Then there's Colin, a basketball star who needs to have a good year on the court to get some scholarship money for college. Megan, the prom queen/student council type who is -- surprise -- kind of bitchy. And Jake, a video-playing geek with a bad skin problem and a mission to find a girlfriend. A fifth high schooler, a handsome rascal named Mitch, become a factor about halfway through. Sure it was contrived, but I still rooted for these kids to attain their goals and overcome their heartbreaks. And who knows, you may just see the name Hannah Bailey on a movie poster or marquee again some day...