After being so impressed with "It Follows" I decided to have a look at David Robert Mitchell's first full-length feature. Basically what we have here is an attempted update on "Dazed and Confused" + "American Graffiti" (particularly the subplot of one male teen glimpsing a gorgeous blonde early in the movie and then spending the remainder of the runtime trying to find her) infused with a drop of 80s John Hughes sentimentality. Unfortunately "The Myth of the American Sleepover" falls well short in quality by comparison to those classics.For a movie like this to succeed it needs interesting, thoughtful characters that have interesting, thoughtful things to say. We also need the director to effectively capture dreamy nostalgia and youthful vigor. None of that is here. We're stuck with dull cookie-cutter teens and trite dialogue that is delivered by every character with a surprising level of boredom and absence of passion. The character Maggie comes closest to providing a spark but she shares screen time with too many others and is still restricted by the script.We know from "It Follows" that Mitchell is an excellent cinematographer, skillful in pacing, mood, and creating tension. We also know he is capable of portraying the human condition, traumas, and sufferings with insightful depth. He needs to improve his ability to write good dialogue, particularly when a movie is strongly dependent on it.

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's obvious to me that your films are brilliant. as well as absolutely, utterly drenched to the core with a heartbreaking, idiosyncratic style personal to you and you only .. you are a special filmmaker Mr. Mitchell, and this here is one of my all-time favorite pictures; it is, in fact, the greatest coming-of-age that has ever been made .. before seeing this in 2015, a few months after the equally brilliant IT FOLLOWS was released widely, I had dreamt of a film just like it for years and years; I'd dreamt of making one like it one day .. and seeing the film was basically seeing these own dreamscapes of my head realized .. and, of course, realized with more elegance and brilliance than I ever could have dreamt of. ~~~ 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 a truly borderline micro one (according to basic sources) only goes to strongly exemplify a conviction that this film is a godsend of the heavens, and that it'll eventually go down in history as one of the great (cult) debuts of all time .. this film really feels like living inside of a dream for an hour and forty minutes - a dream from when one is seventeen or eighteen years old .. it explores, with a powerful synthesis of style and substance, the majesty of innocence and the theme of demystification .. I do really hope that it gains full-fledged cult-status one day, b/c this magnificently gloomy, low-budget masterwork damn well deserves it ~~~ If I were to try and break things down technically, I'd start by saying that the cinematography is off-the-effing-hook; the guy that 'DPed' this also did "Moonlight", and the magnificence of his work speaks for itself - along with his oscar nomination, of course!; Mitchell, however, is the visionary here, and, the way I see it is, he essentially looks aesthetics RIGHT in the damn eye, and successfully captures these essences of beauty like a photojournalist in the jungle that manages to photograph rare animals; the way it's shot is Mitchell searching for heaven here on earth, and, through his own unique sense of style and mise-en-scene, he finds it ... furthermore, the unique, divinely peculiar way music is used is perfect and poignant, always enhancing the film throughout; the score-work, sound-design and soundtrack are, seemingly, all blended into a single 'sound' for the film, and everything that's heard truly does seem destined for, and integral to, their respective images ... moreover, Mitchell's casting seems to be heaven-sent, as if these mostly no-name actors (Amy Seimetz not being a no-namer, but just as perfect for this film as the others) were born for this picture, and are as integral to it as anything; they really, truly seem like regular kids and young-adults, almost as if they were just real kids living there in those Detroit suburbs during filming; still, they ARE performances - hyper-realistic ones, and very much unlike the documentary-type performances from young actors and actresses in films like those of Larry Clark ~~~ basically, though, this film is definitely an example of the 'whole being greater than the sum of its parts' .. it's hard to try and put into words why it is honestly as good a picture as "The Godfather" (lol I'm serious) and/or "Citizen Kane", but it most certainly is - by at least any and all standards I can think of .. it is magic, and truly is the pinnacle of the 'coming-of-age' genre .. it really does simply just work, and is as stylish as a picture can get before being avant-garde. 10 *s out of 10

I call this a "modern John Hughes" movie because, just like the John Hughes films of the 80's, they tell stories of teenagers that can hit home with many people. This film tackles some of the not only more modern issues with teenagers, but the deeper issues. I think where it misses its mark is with some of the characters themselves. The story surrounding them may be interesting, but the characters...not so much. For example, I thought the "twins" story line was interesting, but the guy who played the character which this plot surrounds wasn't very likable (perhaps due to his terrible haircut). I think a better casting could have improved this film. The movie looks at teenage life through a slightly nostalgic point of view, but I think it benefits from this. It also shows high school from different points of view, such as a freshman, a senior, or even someone who has already graduated from high school. This film had potential and some good moments, but overall didn't quite hit the mark.

The Myth of the American Sleepover plays like a toned-down, more modest version of Superbad. The parties are lighter, but are they more realistic? The language is softer, but is that reality? And the script is more controlled, but is it more fun to listen to? The main problem with the film is in the screenplay, which is slow, overly patient, and sometimes wholly vacant. There's something going on in films today that is beginning to aggravate me. It's the awkward silences. Being around the age of the teenagers in this film, I can safely say we don't talk like this, with long, abrupt pauses following every line. This was actually my main complaint in Terri, another dark coming of age film. The film would've been great if it would've replaced its pauses with some nice dialog to further develop the characters.A film can't talk for the entire time, therefore, musical montages and sometimes long stretches of silence do take place. The only difference is, more often than not, they aren't continuous throughout the whole film. Just when The Myth of the American Sleepover starts to get interesting, it is plagued by a long, directionless silence.Aside from that sidestep, the rest of the film is actually quite wholesome, surprising, and somewhat sweet in its poignant form. It depicts a wide variety of teenagers who are attending a sleepover, a house party, or a pool party during their final week on summer break. I love and hate movies like this. Love them because it lays the groundwork for a great anthology, and hate them because it makes for a challenging review. I've decided I won't go into any stories or characters to leave the experience as fresh as possible. All I will say is that some of these unknowns may possibly drift into wonderful character actors before they know it.For an independent film, it has some very impressive, sunny cinematography. That seems like the least of ones concerns when watching a coming of age drama, but the cinematography here must be commended. The film always looks wonderful. It goes from warm, joyous, and simple with its pallet of vibrant colors, to cold, dreary, and a pessimistic tone with its darker pallet as time goes on. I'm not sure one has ever payed so close attention to photography in a comedy-drama.Alas, what kills the film is just its inability to establish worthy or witty dialog. It's dark, yes, but even the darkest of comedies have their moments of wit and passion. The Myth of the American Sleepover doesn't, and that's disappointing. The film's message basically tells us the teen life isn't like Superbad or an Apatow comedy, which we're fully aware of. But it isn't as murky or as mundane as this presents it. It seems one of the few films to effectively blend realism with humor and believable characterization was The Breakfast Club. That had a lot of silence in the beginning, but it was fitting because these characters were just as foreign to each other as we were to them. By the end, they had talked up a storm with each other. While Myth is somewhat humanistic and poignant, it's also slow and for the wrong reason.Starring: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer, Brett Jacobsen, Nikita Ramsey, Jade Ramsey, and Amy Seimetz. Directed by: David Robert Mitchell.