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American Teen is set in Warsaw, Indiana, and focuses on five graduating high school seniors as they struggle through school and life. The five students prominently featured in the film fit typical high school archetypes, such as a popular student, a nerd, a jock, and a loner.

• Hannah Bailey - the "rebel." Hannah is an artist, musician and wannabe filmmaker whose liberal views are not a good fit for the conservative smalltown culture of Warsaw. Early in the year, her long-time boyfriend breaks her heart, causing her to miss weeks of school while she recovers from the heartbreak, and later, while she deals with possible embarrassment at school for missing so many days. She dates Mitch for a while during the year, but their relationship causes friction with his clique of friends, and he breaks up with her. At the year's end, she heads to San Francisco to live (and eventually go to college). In the film's credits, it's revealed she left the west coast for New York City to study filmmaking.
• Colin Clemens - the "jock." Colin is a well liked, humorous student whose primary focus during the year is athletics. As the star basketball player for Warsaw, he realizes the year is a make-or-break opportunity to impress scouts and get a scholarship. To not get a scholarship will likely mean enrolling in the military - something his father constantly brings up through the film.
• Megan Krizmanich - the "queen bee" or "princess." Megan is a popular student in many ways. She is academically talented, popular, and involved in many extracurricular activities. Her ultimate goal is to get into the University of Notre Dame, something that many of her family members have done before her. She is manipulative and mean, and is considered to be the film's "villain", although she is also humanized by the portrayal of her own social and emotional struggles.
• Mitch Reinholt - the "heartthrob." Mitch is popular at school because of his easygoing ways, his good looks, and his sports talent (he's a teammate of Colin's). He is the least featured of the five primary students, and is even left off some versions of the film's movie poster. Mitch features prominently into the story when he starts dating Hannah.
• Jake Tusing - the "nerd" or "gamer." Jake is an introverted student whose hobbies are the marching band and video games. He longs to find and keep a girlfriend, and much of his storyline revolves around his dating life.

Some film critics have accused the director, Nanette Burstein, of giving the documentary a sensationalized feel, and others have gone so far as to claim that the film feels scripted. Ms. Burstein has denied these claims and defended the film's authenticity. In interviews, the teens have reiterated that the film was not scripted in any way. The movie was filmed at Warsaw Community High School in Warsaw, Indiana.

• Official Movie Web Site

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