Nanette Burnstein’s American Teen looks into the lives of four teenagers and their friends as they steer their way through the hallways -- and social realities -- of Warsaw Community High School, Warsaw Indiana, during their senior year. Profiled in this documentary are Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens, Megan Krizmanich, and Jake Tusing.

Students might regard high school as an ecosystem, and every ecosystem has a food chain. At the top, according to Hannah, are the most popular group of girls led by “queen bee” Megan. Next come “the jocks,” led by star basketball player Colin, who is “second only to Jesus in Warsaw.” Following are the “in-betweens,” like artsy/emo girl Hannah. And finally, we have the bottom feeders – represented by the oh-so-likeable, but friendless, Jake, “the quintessential marching band nerd.”  These four keep to their own kind, erecting barriers based on perceived differences.

Though each student’s story differs, issues common to them all start to emerge. Hannah longs to escape Warsaw and attend college in San Francisco despite her parents’ wish that she remain in Warsaw to study, all the while working through a wrenching breakup with her boyfriend. Colin is pressured by his dad, an Elvis impersonator, to win a sports scholarship. His focus shattered, he bungles plays on court causing his team to suffer losses. Lonely Jake is desperate for a girlfriend.  And the mean-spirited Megan, waiting to see if she’s accepted to Notre Dame, engages in some nasty shenanigans that almost derail her college career and eventually lose her some close friends. One in particular, the naïve Erica, discovers what can happen if someone has the audacity to cross Megan. In this age of the technology of the internet, e-mail, cell phones, and text messaging, she learns an important lesson: be careful of what you send and to whom you send it.

As the four students tell their stories, Burnstein accompanies the narration with an animated sequence. While fun to watch (one is borderline disturbing), these sequences don’t add anything. I suspect Burnstein included them to appeal to the younger audience.

Billed as a documentary, American Teen is really more in the style of cinema vérité, even straying into the realm of reality television -- at times it felt a bit like The Hills or Laguna Beach. It’s an entertaining format, but stretches credibility. Criticism from Warsaw Community High students present during filming revolved around the film’s “fakeness”. However, you don’t need to hear or read these criticisms to realize  the filmmakers simply could not have captured the footage they did if some of those scenes hadn’t been set-up beforehand, maybe even scripted -- either partially or entirely. So the relationship dynamics and the truthfulness of the various dramas are suspect.

What does emerge as truthful involves the angst experienced by teenagers, in high school and out, while they struggle to define who they are and find their place in the world. Peer pressure, parental pressure, cruelty, questionable behavior, bad decisions, fear of the future, loneliness, jealousy, selfishness, breakups, desire for friends. By the end of their senior year, Hannah, Colin, Megan, and Jake experience some if not all of these challenges and dilemmas. They are more alike than they first imagined.

American Teen is a thoroughly absorbing glimpse into the lives of teenagers. Sadly, Burnstein doesn’t dig far beneath the surface to reveal anything new. Instead, she reminds us, very palpably, of a time that was, for many, fraught with confusion, fear, and painful experiences.  Like their hormones, the life of a teenager is full of ups and downs. And a lot of acne.

(Released by Paramount Vantage and rated "PG-13" for strong language, sexual material, some drinking and brief smoking involving teens.)

Review also posted at www.moviebuffs.com .