66
Metascore
29 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThe players are timelessly familiar in American Teen, too. But filmmaker Nanette Burstein tells their stories with a distinctly 21st-century pop and audacity.
- 90Film ThreatFilm ThreatNever has a film captured the spirit of being a teenager better.
- 83The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThough it's compelling enough as soap opera, American Teen digs deeply into why kids grudgingly accept the roles they've been given and the brutal consequences that come with straying outside the lines.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceEven when it's ripping off "Juno" and "The Hills," American Teen is fascinating in the way of every good documentary--the more time you spend with anyone, the more they surprise you.
- 63ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe movie is entertaining on a superficial level, but there's little beneath the surface.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterJames GreenbergThe Hollywood ReporterJames GreenbergFor 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.
- 60VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyUndeniably entertaining for its zippy presentation.
- 60New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe movie does get under your skin (the tremulous misfit girl, Hannah, might be a breakout role model), but the way it has been put together reminds me of those animal shows where the crew nudges the gazelles in the direction of the lions with multiple cameras standing by.
- 60The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottThis 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.
- 50NPRBob MondelloNPRBob MondelloThe students all say and do more than they should in the filmmaker's presence, which certainly makes them watchable -- sort of a slow-motion train wreck.