Posted on: Friday, July 9, 2004

MOVIE REVIEW
'Sleepover' dozes off with school-girls story line

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

From left, Yancy (Kallie Flynn Childress) drives the getaway car for friends Farrah (Scout Taylor-Compton), Hannah (Mika Boorem) and Julie (Alexa Vega) in the comedy "Sleepover." MGM

If you're a 13-year-old girl, you're the target audience for "Sleepover," the new adolescent sitcom from first-time director Joe Nussbaum. If you're an adult, you can probably forget about it.

"Sleepover," in other words, is for its audience and only for its audience. No crossover here.

"Sleepover" borrows generously from Chris Columbus' "Adventures in Babysitting," though I wish the film had also borrowed "Babysitting's" surprisingly great blues score. "Sleepover" tells of four young girls celebrating their last day in junior high school with a slumber party. Of course, they have no intention of slumbering. Partying, yes; slumbering, no.

A wild night is only one short climb down the rose trellis from the second floor bedroom window. Before you know it, they're off on a scavenger hunt, designed to end at a high school dance, where the boys of their dreams supposedly await.

That's true, at least, for Julie (Alexa Vega), the central girl of the saga. As in a zillion other teen comedies, Julie and her friends are not in the hot clique of the school. But they're smart and deserving and will battle through the night to achieve top clique status at the school. (An outdoor lunch area symbolizes status here. If you're the in crowd, you sit near the fountain; if you're the nerds and dorks, you eat lunch by the trash compactors.) Of such drama is a teen comedy made.

Two of Julie's friends aren't especially distinctive. The fourth girl, though, is Yancy (Kallie Flynn Childress), a pudgy kid going through all the painful torture of a typical overweight girl. "Sleepover" fortunately turns the cliche on its ear, giving Yancy an appealing victory and the targeted young filmgoers a worthy object lesson.

The adults aren't much of a factor. Julie's father ("Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Jeff Garlin) spends the night repairing the kitchen plumbing and has no idea his daughter's on the town. The mom (Jane Lynch of "A Mighty Wind") is out for the evening at a dance club (where, of course, her embarrassed daughter spots her).

Ultimately, like so many other teen comedies, "Sleepover" pits the outs against the ins in a battle for status — and the good kids triumph. It's an oft-told tale and this version does little to expand the theme.

Still, Vega graduates from "Spy Kids" to a slightly more mature role, moving her demographic up a few notches on the age scale. And, she delivers a winning performance for Nussbaum, who gives his first film lighthearted attitude and reasonable energy.

Rated PG, mild profanity, innuendo.