neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Sleepover
	Joe Nussbaum Alexa Vega, Mika Boorem, Scout Taylor-Compton, Kallie Flynn Childress, Sam Huntington, Jane Lynch, Jeff Garlin, Sara Paxton, Brie Larson, Steven Carell 2004		Tweens of the female persuasion, the demographic that made cable TV star-lings out of adolescent babes Amanda Bynes and Hilary Duff, are the targets of the ineffectual "Sleepover." It's the first studio feature from director Joe Nussbaum, earmarked as a rising talent after his short film "George Lucas in Love." But "Sleepover" is a sleep-through, best left off Nussbaum's résumé. No one could salvage the amateurish script — a staple Hollywood vision of high-schoolers dealing with crushes and cliques on the cusp of graduation, only de-aged to a goo-gooey, junior-high level. The usual stereotypes are here: outcast good girl, conniving rich girl, nice-guy hunk, wacky stoner, lazy older brother, bumbling parent, and dimwitted authority figure. Alexa Vega, the sister in the "Spy Kids" movies, is Julie, the good girl about to enter high school. (Aww. Our little Spy Kid is growing up.) She wants to hook up with a handsome upperclassman, and during the fall semester, she wants to eat lunch where the cool students sit. Her best friend is moving away, so Julie plans a slumber party with the other less popular girls. It becomes a scavenger hunt in competition with their snooty rivals, winners earning the coveted lunch seats. Jeff Garlin (TV's "Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Steve Carell (TV's "The Daily Show"), usually creditable, stoop to fulfill the film's slapstick comedy requirements.


	Sunday, November 17, 2024





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