Dir: Todd Graff. Starring: Daniel Letterle, Joanna Chilcoat, Robin de Jesus, Sasha Allen, Tiffany Taylor
Oh man, when someone who loves Musicals and Teen Movies thinks that a teen movie about musicals is crap, you know you’re in trouble. Camp, sadly, is nowhere near camp enough; the film is so earnest it’s like trying to drink a gallon wheatgrass juice whilst listening to an S Club Seven compilation. In short; nauseating.
Mainly, the film is about Vlad, the only straight boy at a Musical summer camp for gifted teens. The envy of girls and boys alike, Vlad manages to get himself in a whole lot of trouble between dance numbers and pillow fights. Thrown into the mix is not one, but two dowdy wallflowers, an alcoholic composer who need the kids to teach him A Lesson, and a gay guy who gets beaten up.
What starts out as gentle and mildly satirical ends up reiterating every standard trope there is in teen movies, directed with the subtlety of Oliver Stone. Camp just doesn’t know when to stop. You can tell first-time Director Todd Graf has a background in musicals; the songs are cheesy and well-directed, but everything else is just bigger, bigger, bigger.
None of this is helped by a cast struggling with lame clichés and awkward lines. As Vlad, Daniel Letterle has been ripped straight out of a menswear catalogue, but his character is in actuality a total bastard. Making him the focus of the film
I wanted to like this film so much, and for the first two reels I really forgave a lot, but the final one is the last straw. Hopelessly sentimental, muddled and hackneyed, Camp reminded me of The Hooray For Everything Kids in The Simpsons, and could you imagine watching them for an hour and half?
D.
Patrick Garson.
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