The Myth of the American Sleepover

Suburban Detroit youth culture is explored in writer-director David Robert Mitchell's poignant, coming-of-age story centering on adolescent angst, which follows several teenagers searching for sexual connections on their last night of summer vacation. High schooler Maggie (Claire Sloma) ditches an all-girl slumber party to look for excitement with cynical pool-boy Steven (Doug Diedrich). While on her drinking/skinny-dipping spree, Maggie's accompanied by her bespectacled pal, Beth (Annette DeNoyer). Meanwhile, Claudia (Amanda Bauer), who's new in town, incites jealousy when she kisses the wrong boy in the cellar of his girlfriend's house. Toting his sleeping bag, Rob (Marlon Morton) is ostensibly off to a “guy sleepover,” but he's so obsessed with finding a pretty blonde he saw in the supermarket that he's oblivious to the homosexual crush his buddy Marcus (Wyatt McCallum) has on him. And after being dumped, college junior Scott (Brett Jacobsen) stalks a pair of newcomer twins (Jade and Nikita Ramsey) at an overnight gathering in the college gym. Confused teenage misfits have been film fodder from Rebel Without a Cause through John Hughes's ‘80s classics, and beyond, but The Myth of the American Sleepover owes its biggest debt to George Lucas's American Graffiti. The novice cast performs admirably, although uneven pacing ultimately makes this dramedy drag on a bit too long. Still, this is recommended, overall. (S. Granger)