Sleepover

Sleepover is a lightweight summer flick that shows the transition from the childhood stage to the formative years. The bridge that gaps this monumental leap can be daunting. But, Julie’s Mom (Jane Lynch) does it with little angst when she gives her daughter (Alexa Vega) a doorknob with a locking mechanism as a trophy for her confession to an adolescent cause—sneaking out of the house for a night of breaking all the rules.

Julie is hosting a sleepover and invites a few good friends for a night of make-up, nail painting, dancing, and dressing up—a typical eighth-grade party. However, it is not until Stacie (Sara Paxton), a rich rival who is dumped from her jock boyfriend because she will not “hook-up” (have sex), that the evening’s agenda changes.

Stacie dials her posse to put together a list of challenges and presents the proposal to Julie and her teammates. The list includes re-dressing store mannequins, setting-up a rendezvous with an older man through a Date Safe web site at a dance club, acquiring trunks from a popular boy’s home, and to obtain the Patrol Tec’s magnetic car shield.

Hannah (Mika Boorem), Julie’s best friend, convinces the girls to participate in this all-out scavenger hunt for dibs on the fountain lunch spot during high school next fall. While none of them have a vehicle, Yancy (Kallie Flynn Childress), Julie’s teammate, offers her dad’s electric car as transportation.

As the “average girl team” meets each goal using deceit and adolescent antics, you may notice subtleties that are certainly meant for mature teens. While it is true that wearing the wrong fashion statement can make you an outcast, is there any reason to say that we live in a “suck-universe?” In addition, the “rich girl team” shows name-inscribed thongs over a web cam. Not only is sneaking into a club shocking, but how about the challenge with a text message from rivals to order the alcoholic drink “sex-on-the-beach.” After entering a young man’s home uninvited and standing in the shower, Julie stares at him as he undresses with bare back exposed and his trunks making a small pool on the floor.

Yancy discovers that she is a second choice as a sleepover guest and plays the usual role of the overweight and overlooked girl. Her love for brownies over celery is her choice, and her teammates encourage her to remain confident in who she is. In addition, through this character it is shown that there is someone for everyone. Did you know that brownies are a very important food group?

Julie is captivated with the popular boy, Steve (Sean Faris), who she spied on in the shower. However, Julie is unaware that while skateboarding through town barefoot she is observed by Steve in his car—hence, he is equally infatuated with her. And, during the rest of the flick, they are simultaneously thinking of one another. In the end, the ugly stepsister turns into Cinderella when she kisses Prince Charming.

As in all fairy tales, getting the Prince is not enough, “average girls” win the spot at the fountain and the other team eats lunch in very close proximity to the school dumpster.

As parents, we must try to understand our children individually, and take into account their maturity levels. Though children are a gift from God, they are merely on loan. We are to govern and enforce righteousness consistently because when they are older they will not depart from it. The early years of childhood are the seed-planting years with little outward evidence of your hard work. Even so, it is many seasons later, that when children are without supervision they are able to put into action the many morals and values that have been instilled in them since day one.

Violence: None / Profanity: Mild / Sex/Nudity: Mild