★★★½ American Teen

[Twinkletoes: 3.5]

Twinkletoes says: 'This documentary chronicles the senior years of 4 very different students at an Indiana high school. One is an extremely awkward band geek who wants nothing more than a girlfriend. Another is the star basketball player whose father has told him that it's either the army or a basketball scholarship. Another is a spoiled rich girl who will do anything to get her way. The last and most interesting one is an artsy girl who is struggling with the depression that runs in her family and wants nothing more than to leave her small town roots. Its great fodder for a documentary and for the most part this is an entertaining, enlightening and moving film. My main problem with it is that the filmmaker didn't seem to trust her material. For example, when the artsy girl talks about her fear of depression overtaking her we are subjected to some Tim Burtonesque animation. Personally I would have been a lot more affected by her talking to the camera. These sorts of tricks are used time and time again and it really does a heck of a lot to minimize the impact of the stories of these kids' lives. It is good film that really could have been great.'