Here’s a novel idea: you know that very adult comedy about three guys trying to piece together an R-rated night of adventure in Vegas? What if … we remade it, but with tween girls in suburbia … and not so R-rated?
There are worse ideas, to be sure.
The Slumber Party begins with Megan (Darby Camp) riding a runaway hedgehog parade float down the street (although the way it takes up the street, it’s more of a *road* hog if you ask me). As the float stops abruptly flinging its driver through the non-existent windshield, Megan -mid-flight-that-won’t-end-well- stops and introduces herself. She is missing an eyebrow. Ah, I see she must be the Ed Helms character.
And her gorgeous friend Paige (Emmy Liu-Wang) must be the Bradley Cooper character and goofy Veronica (Alex Cooper Cohen) must be channeling Zach Galafianakis. Here’s the deal: last night was The Slumber Party at the house of mutual friend Anna Maria (Valentina Herrera), celebrating a birthday. But the next day, everything is crazy. How crazy is crazy? Anna Maria is missing; there are traces of blood on Paige; there are ducklings in the bathtub; Megan is wearing the hoodie of the guy she crushes on but never speaks to; the high school band is missing a float and, oh yeah, nobody remembers a thing.
The girls know why they don’t remember a thing. Their party last night had a hypnotist. One of the things they have to do today is track down the amazing Mesmer (Titus Burgess) so that he might say the magic word that unlocks their collective memories. Geez, how much trouble can four jr. high girls get up to, anyway? I
guess I really and truly wouldn’t know. Here’s what I do know: it’s gonna involve the crush (Ramon Jose Rodriguez) and it’s gonna involve a silly hedgehog float. And at some point, Megan is going to lose and eyebrow. How do you lose an eyebrow?
The ”piecing together a lost period of time” plot is a classic and one of my favorites, essentially because we get to discover the characters as they discover themselves. How did Megan go from the meek wallflower to the kind of girl that steals a parade float? Was she always this way or was she driven to it?
There’s a great energy to The Slumber Party. It’s a throwback to Disney of old. Like Escape to Witch Mountain and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. You know you’re not watching great film. It’s not going to be insightful, revolutionize the world, or change the way we (or even you) live, but it’s going to make you smile. The Slumber Party is silly film and, in retrospect, an awesome idea for a remake. I dunno if any of these kids has a future as an actor, but I like what they did here and now. And, hey. More power to the “girls just wanna have fun” plot. Barbie showed there’s plenty more gold in that particular mine, dig?
Before they all go to high school
Four girls have a sleepover, cool!
They awake in a haze
With one far aways
Whatever went down had to rule!
Rated TV-PG, 82 Minutes
Director: Veronica Rodriguez
Writer: Eydie Faye, Jen Malone
Genre: Lost weekends for tweens
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Tweens
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Hedeghogs
