| Sleepover | |
| Director: | Joe Nussbaum |
| Music: | Deborah Lurie |
| Cinematography: | James L. Carter |
| Editing: | Craig P. Herring |
| Studio: | Landscape Entertainment Weinstock Productions Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Distributor: | MGM Distribution Co. (United States) 20th Century Fox (international)[1] |
| Runtime: | 89 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $10 million |
| Gross: | $10 million |
Sleepover is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Joe Nussbaum, in his feature film directorial debut. The film stars Alexa Vega and Mika Boorem with supporting roles from Jane Lynch, Sara Paxton, Brie Larson, Steve Carell and Jeff Garlin.
It was released theatrically in the United States on July 9, 2004, and was both a box office and critical failure upon its release, but has since become a cult classic among fans who viewed the film through the ancillary market in subsequent years.[2] [3]
On the last day of 8th grade before their freshman year in high school, Julie Corky has a slumber party with three friends, Hannah Carlson, Farrah James, and Yancy Williams. A group of popular girls, led by a former friend of Julie's, Staci Blake, challenge the girls to a scavenger hunt after Staci's boyfriend dumps her. The prize is a coveted lunchtime seat near the fountain in high school, where the popular kids sit. The losers will sit at tables near the school's dumpsters.
The list includes things like a picture of the girls with a date inside a nightclub, the insignia from a local private security company, a pair of boxers from Steve Phillips (a boy that Julie has a crush on) and to dress an Old Navy mannequin with their own clothing. After paying her older brother Ren to keep her parents believing that they are still home, the girls sneak out of Julie's house, using Yancy's father's Hypermini to travel to different locations and get the required objects. Along the way they dodge a Patroltec security guard and try to keep Julie's parents Gabby and Jay from discovering their absence. At the club, the four sneak in and Julie finds out that her date is her schoolteacher. Understanding her situation, he buys her a drink. Julie drops her scarf, which Gabby who is having a girls night out with a friend, finds at the same club and attempts to call Julie about. When Julie uses a skateboard to go home quickly after the Hypermini gets boxed in traffic, Steve Philips, in his car, sees Julie skateboarding by in a dress and is impressed. Julie arrives home and speaks with her dad, proving to him that she is in fact, at home. Once she speaks to her dad and Ren, who agrees to keep covering for her she leaves and sneaks into Steve's house. Steve and his friend are talking about the girl he saw skateboarding and looking through an old yearbook figures out it was Julie. Julie, who is in his house narrowly escapes him in the bathroom, before grabbing his boxers and leaving. The other girls meanwhile try to find a way to charge their car, and Staci and her team alert Patroltec about a suspicious person at Steve's house. Finally before running away they grab the Patroltec insignia on the security guard's car. Later the girls meet up at the school dance, but both groups have obtained all listed items.
Staci suggests a tiebreaker, where the group which is able to get the crown from the king or queen of the dance will win. Staci catches her boyfriend, Todd, dancing with and kissing another girl who claims that she has been Todd's girlfriend for six months. After the two break up, Staci shares a dance with a scruffy skater friend of Julie's, Russell. Russell drops his copy of the scavenger hunt list, which Steve finds. Russell and Staci end up winning the dance contest causing a fight between Todd and his girlfriend. Steve ends up named homecoming king and picks Julie as his partner for a victory dance, giving her the crown and ensuring victory for her friends.
After the dance, Julie and Steve are about to kiss when Ren calls and notifies her that Gabby is headed home. The girls drive home where Julie drops the crown. They make it home at the same time as Gabby and narrowly miss being caught sneaking in. They pretend to be sleeping just as Julie's parents check on them. The next morning at breakfast, Gabby confronts her asking "exactly" what they did last night, showing Julie the scarf she had dropped in the Cosmo club. Surprisingly, she is not mad but confesses her amazement at how fast Julie is maturing. After she says goodbye to her friends, Julie finds Steve waiting inside her tree fort with her lost crown, where the two finally share a kiss. The film ends with a scene of Staci and her friends, now in high school, eating their lunch by the school dumpsters among the trash and the social rejects.
The film underperformed, opening at #10 in the box office with $4,171,226. The film would later make $9,436,390 in the United States and $712,563 internationally, resulting in a $10,148,953 gross worldwide, on a $10 million budget.[4] [5]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 101 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. The site's critics' consensus reads, "Tween girls will enjoy this sugar coated fluff, but others will find Sleepover a snooze."[6] On Metacritic the film has a score of 33% based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[7]