The moment I knew I was in love with Myth of the American Sleepover was a scene in which a recently dumped college senior (Scott, played by Brett Jacobsen) confesses feelings for a pair of twins he went to high school with. The twins (Nikita and Jade Ramsey) humor him with an ultimatum that I won’t give away here, but there are so many little things going on in the scene that feel complicated, funny, and true. Scott’s confession doesn’t lack honesty, but it’s motivated by the specific pains of being on the rebound — the immediate need to feel a personal, intimate connection to someone else, no matter how ill-advised. His desire to be with both of the girls as a single unit is a Playboy magazine fantasy, and when the girls call him out on it, he faces the situation as honestly as he possibly can. Everyone has looked back at their past, not just at The One Who Got Away, something dozens of comedies and romantic dramas have covered, but at the one that Might’ve Been.
With the Might’ve Beens, we attach romantic daydreams to the people who pass in and out of our lives. Their fleeting nature doesn’t make those minor attractions untrue, and they’re rarely explored on film because of how difficult they are to express. They’re something more than sexual desire, but something less than an honest-to-goodness crush. Writer/director David Robert Mitchell absolutely nails it here, just one true moment in a film filled with true moments. Myth of the American Sleepover may be cut from the same ensemble youth culture cloth as American Graffitti and Dazed and Confused, but there’s more of a romantic thread that runs through this film than those.
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Romance, SXSW, Theatrical Reviews
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