'American Teen'

"American Teen" follows five Indiana high schoolers through their senior year, shining hopes, pimples and all. Documentarian Nanette Burstein ("The Kid Stays in the Picture") diligently selects representative types -- "jock," "princess," "geek," "heartthrob," "rebel" -- in a small town that, if not exactly reflective of American demographics, does resemble some classic vision of Americana, albeit updated with text messaging and camera phones.

By Michael Ordoña

July 25, 2008