American Teen

"As docos go, this one's about as gritty as your average episode of Dawson's Creek. The people in it are all white, middle class, eloquent-ish suburbanites - real life Juno MacGuffs and Jim Levensteins living in relatively affluent Warsaw, Indiana. There are no black kids. There's no great poverty. One girl has to live with her Gran because of her mother's manic depression but elsewhere most of the family support networks are intact."

"The 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."

"Undeniably entertaining for its zippy presentation."

"For 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."

"Shows how a documentary can be as moving and suspenseful as the best narrative feature."

"Reality TV, welcome to the multiplex. If "The Hills" went back to high school and developed wit, perception and a conscience, it might play something like Nanette Burstein's wallop of a doc."