I caught this movie with my own pair of Canadian teens (Ryan and Claire) at the AMC Dundas Square multiplex cinema 23 7:15 PM show on Sunday August 3. Its a very stylish documentary film (that was apparently a hit at Sundance) featuring the stories of a small group of seniors in their graduating year at s mall town high school in (predominantly white and middle class) Warsaw, Indiana. The movie plays a bit like a real-life John Hughes 80s teen dramedy played forward 20 years. The director, Nanette Burstein, intersperses animated sequences and makes effective use of the musical soundtrack to good effect. Although the teens profiled seem to be cast to type-- the rich overachiever with the dark family secret (Megan), the artsie sensitive girl with a history of family mental illness (Hannah), the shy awkward nerdy pimple-faced band member (Jake) and the jock from the poor family who needs to win an athletic scholarship to go to college (Colin)-- their personalities manage to transcend these stereotypes. There are many poignant and touching moments. It would be interesting if the director re-visits her subjects in 5 years or so (a la Michael Apted's 7 Up series) to see what becomes of them.
I give this a thumbs up 3 out of 4 stars.
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How did Claire and Ryan like it?
It was the first feature length documentary they have seen, so the "fictional style" helped get them thru it. Still, it was a considerably more emotionally challenging material than what Claire is used to seeing on the light Disney channel shows (Hannah Montana, The Suite Life, That's So Raven, et al) she usually watches. There weren't too many other teens in the audience.
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