Camp

Camp

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Movie Reviews of Camp

Movie Review: The fabulous feel-great film of the year!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars

While summer camp often means nature trips, cookouts and wacky hijinks to most young people, Camp Ovation in upstate New York caters to those who are more artistically inclined. Over the two months campers attend, they will put on a new show every other week, be it drama, musical or something more avant-garde, going through the process of auditioning, creating their own sets and costumes, rehearsing and presenting a new show for an audience, then beginning anew the next day. Many of the kids at Camp Ovation are outsiders within their own worlds. Ellen (Joanna Chilcoat) is reduced to begging her older brother in order to have a date to her junior prom, while Michael (Robin DeJesus) gets beaten up at his prom for daring to arrive in drag. Fritzi (Anna Kendrick) is so starved for any attention, she spends her entire year waiting for camp so she can be the assistant to Ovations number one drama diva, Jill (Alana Allen). Our first clue things will be different this summer arrives in the form of Vlad (Daniel Letterle). Hes cute, talented and seemingly the only straight male in the entire teenage camp populace. Ellen, Michael and Jill will all fall for Vlad, even if he has no idea who Stephen Sondheim is. Each year, Camp Ovation has one artist in residence to help run the shows and inspire the nascent talent. This years guest director is Bert Hanley (Don Dixon), a once promising writer who had been the toast of Broadway with his first musical, but never delivered a follow-up show. The story follows these kids as they deal with each other over the course of the summer. Hearts are broken, lifelong friendships are created, and theres that one ambitious actress who makes Eve Harrington look undemonstrative.

From the opening credits, in which the company performs the rousing, gospel-esque How Shall I See You Through My Tears to the end, when they dance through their own rendition of The Want of a Nail, it is this group of talented youngsters who make the movie come alive. For while most of the cast are cinema neophytes, they have a warmth and energy which make them feel familiar and comfortable. The film feels almost like a documentary, for what little over-acting does appear is saved for the sequences of the stage performances. And it is these stage performances that are the best part of "Camp." These kids are simply amazing, their voices powerful and seductive!

Residing somewhere between Meatballs and Fame, Camp is the brainchild of actor turned writer Todd Graff, who based the story on his own experiences at the Stagedoor Manor camp (where the film was shot) as a youngster in the 1970s, where he was a camper and later a counselor during his teen years.

Making his directorial debut here, Graff has assembled a first rate team around him, ensuring the films success as a work of art. Oscar winning composer Michael Gore, Tony winning choreographer Jerry Mitchell, Rent musical director Tim Weil and Hedwig and the Angry Inch composer and lyricist Stephen Trask have all infused their individual talents together to create an extraordinary cinematic experience. I cannot stress how incredible I think this film is. It's everything "Fame" SHOULD HAVE been. Camp gets an A+ for effort and an A+ for execution. Bravo!

Summary of Camp