"American Graffiti"-lite. "The Myth of the American Sleepover" is about what boys and girls get up to on a summer's night and no, it's not what you might expect if you rely solely on the movies for your information. The closest they get to sex is a bit of petting; they drink beer and vodka but stop short of getting drunk and 'fighting' is limited to an egg and a slap being thrown. This was David Robert Mitchell's first film and it's a real charmer. Nothing happens but his delightful young and untried cast make spending time in their company a real pleasure and Mitchell is content just to let them be themselves. There are no dramas and nothing bad happens. This is a movie to make us think back to our own youth and smile.

~THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER ~2010 ~Directed by: David Robert Mitchell ~Starring: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amy Seimetz

~10 *s out of 10

Dear David Robert Mitchell,

You are a god, sir .. and, although you may never get the truest recognition you deserve for, perhaps, some time, it is, nonetheless, obvious to me, as well as hundreds of thousands of fans, that your films are absolutely, utterly drenched to the core with a heartbreaking, idiosyncratic style/aesthetic personal to you and you only, which - from the very first frames of your films - shines like the stars do in the clearest skies of mid-summer nights .. you are a special filmmaker Mr. Mitchell, and this here is one of my all-time favorite motion pictures - it's the greatest coming-of-age drama that has ever been made, in fact .. I've dreamt many years of making a film just like this; it's as if, literally, my dream film was made for me to enjoy whenever I want to ..... I'm not going to be naive and pretentious enough to start trying to break down, on a technical level, why this film is a full-fledged American masterpiece, but I will say this: the fact that its production budget was truly a borderline micro one of just around 30k (according to basic sources) , only goes to heavily strengthen my conviction that you, Mr. Mitchell, are a godsend of the cinematic heavens, and that this film will one day go down in history as one of the truly great cult debuts of all time ..... this felt like living inside of a dream for an hour and forty minutes .. or, more precisely, a dream from when I was seventeen or eighteen years old. It captures, with so much overflowing style, grace, elegance, and substance, the majesty and steel-melting beauty of youth and innocence, and the theme of demystification .. it is such a moving experience to watch and enjoy this film, especially within the context of having, indeed, grown up in some middle-class suburbs of a typical American suburban-setting, it actually, indeed, took quite a lot out of me due to its relentless, and unbelievably successful poignance .. I kind of don't like using that word b/c of its associations with downright cheese and/or pretentiousness , but, in this case, it's a solid term for describing the effectiveness, and, immensely powerful, yet skewed, hilarious, almost eerie, melodrama ..... this is just a flawless picture, and is shot so well it makes one's heart just ache. Your film, in fact, David Robert Mitchell, is shot so damn well that it makes me feel the same way van Gogh does when I'm tripping on hallucinogens .. and I sincerely mean this .. a lot of people just aren't alive and kicking emotionally, intellectually and/or spiritually enough: they want the old explosions and shootouts or some shit, Mr. Mitchell (smh) , and it's certainly a shame ... maybe it'll gain big-time cult status soon though, b/c it just downright effng deserves it.

Damn, well, maybe I will try to break things down in my own little way ... first off, the cinematography is off-the-effing-hook .. the guy that 'DPed' this also did Moonlight - which was divinely shot and one of the best best-picture winners in ages .. the way its shot by Mitchell and the DP is like getting a glimpse into heaven itself; Mitchell essentially looks beauty/aesthetics right in the effing eye here - RIGHT in the damn eye - and does so successfully, like a photojournalist in the jungle successfully capturing, on film, rare primates or something .. I mean, the way it's shot is totally just this completely earnest, hopeful, idealistic, deeply expressionistic journey for the face of beauty in itself, kind of like a search philosophically for Plato's forms or something along those lines ... ... ... furthermore, all of the film's elements perfectly contend w the perfection of the way its shot; it seems like Mitchell is actually a brave explorer in search of beauty instead of pain, and is willing, ironically, to drop off the edge of the earth to do so. And, well, to be repetitive on purpose, he successfully captures the beauty of youth without cheese, without being contrived, with originality that is so fresh it's actually easy to be taken aback by it for some reason; the music dreamily lends itself to the film's core, as does every performance - all of them so authentic the effect is almost eerie, and as does the writing, which feels subconscious-fueled every minute of the film.

Also, I gotta say just how plain, outright wild this film is, too ... this 100 minute shrine for the stars is as thoroughly enjoyable as it is emotionally, aesthetically, artistically satisfying.

Basically, this is a completely spot-on love-letter to the beauty of youth and innocence; a grand, enormously tasteful, visual poem of the greatest medium of the fine arts: cinema; made under a singular vision of emotional (and otherwise) genius that is hard to be topped.

10 *s out of 10

It's the last days of the summer and high school is starting up soon. Janelle Ramsey invites new girl Claudia to her sleepover party but she may know Cameron's boyfriend. Maggie and Beth would rather not go to the sleepover. They get invited by Cameron to a party. Rob Salvati brags about fictional hookups. Scott Holland leaves college and becomes obsessed with twins Ady Abbey and Anna Abbey. His sister Jen tells him that they have left for college frosh week lockup. These and other young kids party at the pool, the makeout maze, and other places waiting for the end of summer.

This is a much-filmed genre. This has a few moments of interesting dialog or scenario. The actors are mostly amateurs. Filmmaker David Robert Mitchell pulls from quite a few coming-of-age stories. The production is generally professional. The use of new faces does give a sense of genuineness. However, following so many characters does scatter the tension. This may work better losing one main story and a couple of characters. The amateur high school actors have their charms but also have their deficiencies.