Missing those John Hughes teen movies of the 80's? I have no idea why the man has not continued to make movies. I suppose there's no reason to make anything inferior, not when his work from 20 years and older survives so well and has made him a sort of living legend in the field. His influence continues on in things like AMERICAN TEEN, a new documentary by Nanette Burstein (director of the documentaries ON THE ROPES and THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE). The original ad campaign even featured a poster of the five teen protagonists posing similarly to THE BREAKFAST CLUB (as seen in the comparison photo on this page).
The film follows five Indiana high schoolers during their senior year. It's that simple. There's a geeky guy (who's poor face is riddled with rotten acne every few scenes), a friendly jock (competing each and every game to make a college scholarship and avoid the army), an athletic heart throb (not as much a lead character as supporting, but a good guy who rides a tough line in balancing his popularity with liking "an outsider"), an artistic rebel (the heart of the movie, the girl wants to leave her sleepy burg and hit the big city), and a girl who should just be described as a queen bee (set as the film's only human antagonist of sorts; very focused on her collegiate aspirations, drones and workers of all kinds circle around her constantly). Each kid needs support in a different way and each is shown in a positive light on that account. They each have their desires and we watch their efforts hopefully, remembering the time we were also their age and had to deal with some of the same hurdles (though the advent of the internet and cell phones has already put a decided generation gap between their class and mine).
Some speculation has arisen over the truthfulness of certain scenes. There are portions of the teens' lives you wouldn't normally see had the filmmakers not been granted total access (even providing audio body mikes as not to miss anything). Ask yourself: what is the responsibilty of the crew when they are recording under-age drinking and hostile acts of vandalism? I say the camera needs to be a passive observer as the teens knowingly enact their lives so that "reality" may be captured in a true manner. Of course, in the event that something dangerous may go on there should always be some sort of intervention. They are all aware of the cameras, but there are bound to be times when it just becomes habitual to have them around and easily pay no mind. A terrific reveal comes when we see the jock being told by his father a very important lesson about his future. The camera is held in closeup until pulling back to see the father dressed completely in his Elvis-impersonator costume.
AMERICAN TEEN has been in release for nearly a month. It is entertaining and will be a nice rental for those of you who are curious about peering closer into the lives of today's youths. There are supporting teens who don't get much of the spotlight, but they may not have desired it. That's a very refreshing thing in today's age of instant YouTube stars and celeb-reality.
Bonus paragraph, radical! Since I made mention of the slight connection with THE BREAKFAST CLUB, I feel you should know that this is my favorite of the Hughes' 80's movies from that time. It really embodies a strong spirit, respects each of its characters, while breaking them out of stereotypes. It holds its ground very well as the years go on. Have you seen the recent "Don't You Forget About Me" ad on tv? That's gotta be the original library set, right? No better way to capture the attention of twenty through thirtysomehings than by recalling one of the classics.
Oh and one of my favorite songs of that early-80's era is "Love My Way" by the Psychedelic Furs. A very creepy come-on to be sure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P09gm_I5RI
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