I have watched about a thousand movies in the last couple of weeks. I was going to write mini-reviews for all of them and note whether I would recommend them or not, but I decided this one deserved a separate post. I am not sure whether I would recommend Nanette Burstein's documentary about Indiana high school seniors, American Teen, or not. I really can't say objectively if it's a good movie. I know it sucked me in like nothing else, but that was entirely because I had the craziest experience of feeling like I was literally watching my high school self on the big screen. I know they picked the main characters to be representative of various high school "types," and much of the movie was filmed through Hannah Bailey's eyes, so I am sure I'm not the only person to have had this kind of experience. But I bet I felt it to a much, much higher degree. The similarities were astounding: the look, the mannerisms, the best friend (even the tearful goodbye was pretty much word-for-word with mine), the boyfriend and corresponding heartbreak, the depression, the raging need to get the fuck out of town. Of course, Hannah seems much more bold and directed than I was at that age, and I felt a twinge of jealousy when I saw she was now studying film in New York City. I could only have dreamed of that when I was her age. Until I read a review that mentioned she was actually studying film at SUNY Purchase, which is, of course, my alma mater and therefore does not inspire any jealousy but rather a kind of freaky . . . whoa feeling. I don't think I could handle watching it again, because parts of it were so cringeworthy (I really do not miss high school. Or college, for that matter. Late twenties is where its at, for me). But if anyone ever asks me what I was like in high school, I will immediately direct them to Hannah Bailey in American Teen.