Studio: MGM
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements involving
teen dating, some sensuality and language.
Mom Rating: 1 out of 5
Kid Rating: 3 out of 5
Cast: Alexa Vega, Mika Boorem, Jane Lynch,
Sam Huntington, Sara Paxton, Brie Larson
Writer: Elisa Bell
Director: Joe Nussbaum
Most adults remember adolescence as both an exciting
and a horrific time, which is one of the reasons why so many filmmakers
have scored with coming of age stories. While these movies are made
with a young audience in mind, the best of them also appeal to those
of us who remember the highs and lows of navigating that passageway
to adulthood.
Teen movies are often adventure fantasies where there
are no adults to supervise -- situations that come about because the
kids in the stories deliberately (or unwittingly) break the house
rules (or even the law) and disregard their own safety, usually behind
the backs of their clueless parents. And while we real parents may
not approve of the antics displayed by the characters in films like
"American Graffiti," "Rebel Without a Cause,"
"Grease," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and "Clueless"
(to name just a few of the good ones), we tend to look back at them
with affection.
That doesn't necessarily mean we want to share these
movies with our tween-age children. At least, not until they are old
enough to understand that these films are no more real than the Saturday
morning cartoons they watched when they were younger. And most of
the films listed above were rated PG-13 or higher... and not marketed
to kids as young as 7 or 8.
At the beginning of "Sleepover," slumber
party hostess Julie (Alexa Vega of "Spy Kids") is dismayed
to find out her mother has decided on a theme for her gathering: she's
purchased ladybug paper plates and party hats, just like she did when
Julie was little. When her daughter protests that she's not a baby
any longer, her mom sets some ground rules for the evening's event:
No boys, no leaving the house and nothing that will cause the home
any structural damage.
Of course, the girls break them all, even the last
one.
There's no profanity in this movie and no nudity,
so the MPAA gave it a mild PG, which once again goes to show you how
inadequate the system is. This is a movie where the 14-year-old heroines
take part in a scavenger hunt that prompts them to risk their lives
by sneaking out of a second-floor bedroom window and driving a car
without a license (it's an electric car, so it's implied they don't
need one.) They also manage to assault a security guard, worm their
way into a nightclub and one of them sneaks into a boy's bedroom and
hides in his bathroom shower, where she watches him undress. The camera
pulls away at the crucial moment, so I guess that makes it OK with
the ratings board.
Most annoying is the fact that there are no consequences
for their inappropriate behavior. Her parents don't seem all that
upset about the fact that their garden trellis was destroyed, or that
the girls duped them by staying out all night. Julie's mom even rewards
her at the end with a new lock for her bedroom door. (So the kid can
have more privacy after breaking all the house rules? This simply
does not compute!)
The heroes in "Sleepover" are portrayed
as smart, nice girls who temporarily discard their moral bearings
for a principle. A parent might look the other way -- perhaps -- if
the kids went to such extreme lengths in the name of fighting social
injustice or raising funds for charity. But the worthy cause they
are fighting for is the right to a prime lunch spot at the high school.
Questionable storyline aside, there are some bright
moments in this film. Vega carries her role with intelligence and
charisma. Despite the unbelievability of her antics, she and the rest
of the teenage cast look and sound like real kids (not Hollywood models).
Jane Lynch (who was very funny in "Best of Show" and "A
Mighty Wind") and Jeff Garlin ("Curb Your Enthusiasm"
and "Daddy Daycare"), who play her clueless parents, do
a lot with a little. Steve Carell (who was in "Almight Bruce"
and is currently co-starring in "Anchorman") steals every
scene he is in as the hapless security guard.
And my eight-year-old daughter found this movie very
entertaining, laughing delightedly at some of the silly situations
the characters were in. I can only hope the laughter is the only thing
she took away from it, and not the message that being cool in school
is the only thing that matters.
Donna Schwartz Mills took film classes in college
and spent 13 years working in the entertainment industry before "retiring"
to marry a "non-pro" (Variety's term for anyone in any other
business), and become a mom. Today she writes reviews of family films
at her website, http://www.Family-Content.com
, your source of family friendly content solutions for websites and
ezines.
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