The Myth of the American Sleepover 2011

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A lovely, gentle and very true film set on a long night in a small Michigan city at the end of summer. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Mitchell has an 
 ear for the tentativeness of adolescence, the way that everyone is trying on postures, attitudes, selves. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: Funny and frank, real and romantic, Myth feels like a mix of a poem and a party, as brief and beautiful as the right kind of summer night. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: What Mr. Mitchell gets splendidly right in this quiet, observant film, is the unsteady mixture of sophistication and naivete that is central to the modern American teenage way of being in the world. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Mitchell seems trapped in an unspecified '90s-ish retro zone, and you wonder how good his sleepovers really were. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: Slightly clumsy but hugely endearing. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A coming-of-age movie that evokes the teenage experience through minor, incisive observation, then leaves without making anything so conspicuous as a statement. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Mitchell finds a balance that's just right in juggling all these emotions and presenting them believably in screen. His little movie is pretty much perfect in depicting youthful imperfection. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: I remember 15. It was a mess. Mitchell's movie serenely amplifies the mess. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: I can sympathize with the need to connect with teen audiences without having to resort to the usual antics, but the answer is not to swap the real world for a patently fake one. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The Myth of the American Sleepover is an indie movie-lover's dream, one of those rare instances where a lack of budget and experience is trumped by heartfelt vision, natural talent and amateur enthusiasm. Read more

Andrew Wallenstein, Hollywood Reporter: Sleepover is less a fully realized artistic expression than an able reworking of a well-worn genre. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: With "The Myth of the American Sleepover," first-time writer-director David Robert Mitchell tells a coming-of-age tale with such freshness and such bemused insight it's as if it has never been told before. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: While there is some sense of the complex dynamics that propel all teen parties, the pacing drags in a way a summer night never should. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: David Robert Mitchell's auspicious debut feature owes a lot to "Dazed and Confused" and other coming-of-age flicks, but it's an engaging piece of filmmaking on its own, beautifully shot and acted. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: The young director, whose day job is editing commercials, has never made a narrative feature-length movie before and shows no aptitude for it here. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: A one-of-a-kind teen movie, which captures that distinctive moment in adolescent life when nostalgia, loss and anxiety begin to populate one's consciousness with ghosts. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: There's a lot to like here - not least disarmingly natural performances from the mostly non-professional actors. Read more

Rob Nelson, Variety: Well-intentioned but derivative and only intermittently engaging, the suburban Michigan-set indie hits at least as many false notes as true ones. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: Sloma is always interesting to watch: She's even almost credible when tasked with delivering the film's thesis in the form of a lesson learned. Read more