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8/4/11
Wild At Heart - Myth Of The American Sleepover review
Wild At Heart
When I looked at the cast of “The Myth Of The American Sleepover”, there are not a lot of names that I am familiar with. With the exception of remembering the Ramsey twins for an unaccredited cameo as mutant twins in the X-Men movie, there is not a lot of experience here. In fact, most of the actors are first time actors. Despite that fact, this teen comedy does have a lot going for it and first time director David Mitchell goes a good job getting fine performances from the actors.
The movie reminds me a bit of “Diner” as we are following basically four young teens growing up in metro-Detroit looking for love, acceptance and a bit of the high life during the last weekend of summer. As with Diner”, the movie is trying to win us over with realistic yet poignant humor and observations about teenage coming-of-age life. This doesn’t quite reach the same heights but does have some surprisingly good moments in between.
The film flits about with these characters as they focus on a hang out spot for making out, a sleepover and various pool parties. Each of our four main kids (Rob, Scott, Maggie and Claudia) hang out and talk about their crushes, insecurities, fears and passions (even looking for that first kiss). The fact that there are almost no adult actors helps keep the focus on the kids and allows them to carry the film, which they do very well. It does make you wonder how so many young kids can be getting drunk without any parents around to curtail them, but for the most part, that doesn’t matter.
The dialogue also, thankfully manages to ignore the more scatological and infantile humor seen in many of today’s film which keep it more “Breakfast Club” in tone and feel which I feel is a good thing. For the most part, the film does a good job juggling the many narratives as people skip place to place, meet up and separate again. The film remains refreshingly real with very few annoying moments a film like this could lead too.
The film also leaves me, like “Breakfast Club” nostalgia, how many of these kids might go on to better things. My money is on Nikita Ramsey but there is some nice potential in this cast. I also wonder where this will take director Mitchell in the future. He kept the film grounded and while it doesn’t have the mass appeal in today’s market alongside films like “Hangover” or “American Pie”, it definitely reminds me of some of the sharper teen comedies of the 80’s.
Overall, I give the film a B- and I hope the film can find a decent audience in today’s climate.