Review of The Myth of the American Sleepover (2011) by Ben D — 09 Feb 2012

One of the joys of watching debut film efforts starring a young cast is working out who you think will go onto stardom. Example, watching 10 Things I Hate About You, it was easy to tell both Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles were destined for big things. But both of those had already done some major work by the time of that film. In The Myth of the American Sleepover, everybody is green.

So the standouts: writer/director David Robert Mitchell films with the eye and ear of a seasoned pro. The film is confident - moodily filmed, closer in style to Terrence Malik than John Hughes - and he gets surprising results from his young cast, particularly Claire Sloma who stood out for me as somebody to watch. Her dance routine at the beach - danced to win a bottle of vodka to impress the older boy she's crushing on - shows a sense of comic timing and effortless acting that disgraces many more profesional actors. I hope we see more of her on screen - but that she's done nothing in the years since this film was completed (I think I read in 2009), but has been studying at university instead, suggests acting might not be her main aim in life.

This is a teen film, but not a typical teen film. I can see why it has recieved such limited attention. But unlike other teen films that play everything for laughs (Easy A, 10 Things, Ferris Bueller), TMOTAS has a rare honesty and authenticity that revives memories of ones own heady youth, in which anything seemed possible - even obtaining the beautiful girl - but which never played out the way you expected. A film that deserved more than it got - I think in years to come it will be recognised as the exceptional debut that it is.