American Teen (DVD)

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Third, there's Megan Krizmanich, the princess, the rich homecoming queen who's in the top social group, the highest clique. She's on the student council, the track team, the golf team, and the volleyball team, the whole nine yards. Since she's rich, the movie also points out that she's the meanest of the kids, the snobbiest, and the most airheaded.

Fourth, there's Mitch Reinholt, the heartthrob and one of Colin's best friends. He gets somewhat lost in the proceedings, not making an appearance until almost halfway though the picture. Still, when we meet him, he turns out to be rather charming, a much more decent character than we might have expected. Indeed, he looks and acts like Brendan Fraser, and I mean that as a compliment.

Fifth, there's Jake Tusing, the geek, the "quintessential marching-band nerd." He is cute and shy and introverted, with few friends, and mostly he hangs out with the other band members and plays video games alone in his room. The pressure he has is mainly trying to find a girlfriend.

Needless to say, the biggest pressures these kids have are from romantic entanglements and from the uncertainty of their futures. Shy Jakes's romances are the sweetest, while Hannah's experiences are the most dramatic. Like it or not, poor Megan comes off as the person to shun, while Hannah is the one we'd all like to know better.

All the same, the problem I had with these young folks is that none of them felt real to me, even though they were. The movie doesn't feel like or sound like a documentary. It feels and sounds like a regular, staged and scripted motion picture. The kids, all of them (according to an accompanying featurette) non-professionals before the shooting started, seem too smooth, their dialogue too polished, for actual life. I know this is what comes of endless editing of endless material, but it all comes out seeming too sleek and too refined to be real.

I have to admit, though, that stereotyped or not, by the time graduation rolled around and the young people went their various ways, I couldn't help but feel good for them. "American Teen" builds slowly and culminates in some honestly touching and moving moments. And I can't complain about that.

Video:
The filmmakers shot the movie using digital video cameras, so the picture isn't quite as realistically textured as it might be, nor is there the kind of depth we have come to expect from film stock. That said, the colors are bright and deep, the definition is fairly sharp, and the screen is ultra clean.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is quite robust, with strong bass and an abundance of surround activity for ambient noises. Both of these qualities are winning, but they tend to detract from the idea of the movie's being a documentary. The sound is too good for the situation.

Extras:
The extras begin with "Pop Quiz: Cast Interviews," wherein the major cast members answer questions about how they got chosen for the film, what they thought of the filmmaking, and what they think of each other. I found this bonus item probably more revealing than anything in the actual film. Next, there are six deleted scenes in widescreen, followed by "Hannah Blogs," ten segments wherein Hannah chats about her likes and dislikes and her general opinions about life.

The extras conclude with a series of trailers at start-up for other Paramount products; five character trailers for "American Teen," each widescreen trailer emphasizing a different one of the five main characters; fifteen scene selections; English and Spanish spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Parting Shots:
"American Teen" has its heart in the right place, but I don't think it breaks any new ground exploring the teen years. Instead, it pretty much just tells us what we already know from personal experience and from other movies. Nevertheless, most of the characters are appealing, and by the time it's finished we do feel we've spent some quality time with them, and we wish them all the best.

Final note: In the U.S. Paramount have made "American Teen" a Target exclusive, available for rental everywhere but only available for purchase at Target stores. However, it will be for sale or rent at all major retailers in Canada.

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