Trailer Watch: American Teen
The theatrical trailer for Nanette Burstein’s high school documentary American Teen is up courtesy YouTube, or also see a higher quality version over at Yahoo! Movies. Consciously patterning the marketing after The Breakfast Club is an iffy proposition (although why that film is so beloved is kind of beyond me), but it seems to fit the tone of the film — the obvious intention being that the four main kids in the film are “everymen,” like the characters/archetypes in Breakfast Club.
For a little more about the film, check out this brief interview (with a little extra footage) with Ms. Burstein from the Sundance Channel, also from YouTube:
The arty girl who dates the most popular guy in school (a.k.a. the Ally Sheedy) looks like the soul of the film, as well as the most interesting of the four leads, so as long as Emilio Estevez doesn’t “get high” and punch dance, this will probably be well worth seeing.
on 2008-04-14 at 02:06
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Don’t want to turn this into a race thing but could they have put at least one minority in this movie? I think I saw three during the trailer i’m sure one of them could have filled one of the Breakfast club roles.
on 2008-04-14 at 07:18
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You don’t get why The Breakfast Club is a big deal? Well, it pretty much tackles the issue of teenage alienation better than any film Hollywood has produced before or since. It promotes the concept that cliques and social status are a barrier against showing any kind of weakness or insecurity when – secretly – everyone has their hang-ups and people have more in common than you might think. It’s not just about throwing lunch meat on statues and “crackin’ skulls.”
on 2008-04-14 at 07:32
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Tom: I’m not really knocking it, but I probably saw it for the first time well into my 20’s (I missed most of the John Hughes ’80s flicks in theaters or even home video), so it didn’t resonate with me quite the same as it obviously did for most kids from our generation.
I’ve still never seen (all of) Sixteen Candles, either.
on 2008-04-14 at 12:07
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I suppose it’s for “people of a certain age”, as they say. You could also say it’s your generation’s… uh… Dazed and Confused? Kids? Clueless?
on 2008-04-14 at 21:27
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Don’t feel too bad about Sixteen Candles. I haven’t seen that all the way through, either. Probably because I don’t have a vagina.
That said, Breakfast Club loses A LOT of its profundity if you aren’t a teenager. But if you watch it when you’re young, you swear it was written about you.