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Like Tina Fey’s witty Mean Girls, director Joel Nussbaum’s new teen comedy explores peer popularity, but less in terms of a Darwinian struggle for survival than as a TV game show. The night before their first day of high school, Julie (Alexis Vega) gets permission from her mom to throw a sleepover party for her friends and fellow outcasts — the condition being that they don’t leave the house. But a clique of popular beauties has challenged the underdogs to a cross-town scavenger hunt, so Julie and her pals sneak out. And of course, while they’re hunting down the desired items, the girls discover their emerging identities and the true meaning of being "grown up." The requisite cuteness, from the girls’ tiny electric car to their constant giggling, can be appealing, but when Sleepover tries to tap into the girls’ meaner side, the door slamming, eye rolling, and self-pity devolve into the usual teenage stereotypes. (90 minutes)
BY MIRIAM LAMEY
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