American Teen

No matter how hard I try I cannot escape American Teen. Just yesterday I put on the DVD for Son of Rambow and the first thing I see is the trailer for American Teen. I cannot watch the trailer without thinking about your typical MTV reality series. Trying to approach this film with an open mind was slightly harder than most other films.
When I watched Bottle Shock last week I never once thought of Sideways, and yet everyone I spoke to afterwards regarding the film mentioned Sideways. Both films are set in the Napa Valley although as plots go they are worlds apart. Perhaps this says something about how people perceive movies - they tend to think about something new in relation to something old. I didn't want to fall for that trip, and thus I wanted to see American Teen with an open mind. Forget that MTV reality shows are so staged and produced to present their version of the truth, this is a real documentary and will not succumb to that false style of reality.
Half a reel into American Teen I realized that my worst fears were affirmed. American Teen is a cynical and totally manipulative movie where the filmmakers took the lazy road to entertainment. It's a gussied up version of reality shows - you know those reality TV shows that are the bane of television programming.
Everyone is a white high school student and falls into a stereotypic mode of expression: the dweeb, the free spirit cool chick and her gay friend, the handsome jock who's sensitive, the spoiled social chick, the basketball hero.
It's not to say that you'd be totally bored with American Teen, you might find yourself time tripping back to days of yore. Or you night be the target audience of young adults and this hits a nerve. One of the students actually shows great emotional range which the filmmakers milk to its maximum effect. In other words point the camera at the little girl weeping with a broken heart. The big question is who can afford college and whose parents have bucks. What I would have given to have Tila Tequilia show up for a cameo. It's worth noting that one of the film's posters mimics The Breakfast Club, a movie that was made before any of the kids on display were born.