Camp

The talent of this group of young people is amazing. As a theater major and a singer, these kids displayed the talent that you always hoped would show up at an audition. How Graff brought together such a wonderfully diverse and talented group puzzles me. I mean these kids weren't typical Hollywood flash and from their profiles this movie was the only thing that most of them have ever been in, however, that never shows on the screen. Although the storyline is not extremely complex, it is interesting and the music makes the movie worth seeing. The production numbers in the show are staged well and the choreography is fantastic. Although I didn't buy for one minute that this was a theater camp (because everyone was ULTRA talented), I appreciated the fact that the musical performances weren't overstaged with props, costumes, and sets that would never be available to ANY high school student.

Very entertaining, often funny, and incredibly

well acted. But entirely uncamp. There's

no knowing irony, no Clueless confidence

• when the kids insult each other,

their lines are as rubbish as

normal kids' witticisms. I thought

it was pretty great and reveled in

its lack of sophistication or typical 00s

bored-detachment. These kids are also

amazingly talented, and look refreshingly,

charmingly real.

I join those that gave this charming film a high rating. I don't know where the UNEMPLOYED CRITIC is coming from and I guess from his/her review, we know why they're unemployed. He/she totally missed the boat with this one. Place that review amongst the garbage bin of stupidity.

I thought the concept, story and direction by Todd Graff was a labor of love to the young talented stars of the film. They all gave their all. You could feel the support they brought to Graff and his ideas. Michelle Lynch and Jerry Mitchell brought simple yet effective dancing to the film. Re-creating the TURKY LURKY number from "Promises, Promises" originated by Michael Bennett.

I'm not quite sure who gets the credit for Musical Direction, but it was wonderful to see these young people of today bringing their talents to the Broadway oldies of yesterday. How wonderful for them to know the music of the time.

I give special praise to Daniel Letterle, who seems to be getting most of the bad raps here. I thought he played his role with simplicity and great depth. For such a young actor, he managed to touch your heart with his work. Thank you, Daniel. And Robin de Jesus, too, gave a simple approach to his role. It could have been over the wall acting, but he kept the lid on and made the part his own. Everyone else did very well. They brought good acting, and of course those gorgeous voices.

Congratulations, Mr. Graff, and please give Mr. Sondheim my best.

I am going to recommend Camp to everyone I know. Camp is a entertaining, funny, and inspiring film. The film follows a group of teenagers through one Summer at Camp Ovation, a Theatre camp in the mountains of New York. I related to the film mostly because when I was a teenager, I attended a drama camp very much like Camp Ovation. But the difference here is, the kids in the film perform shows like "Promises, Promises" and "Company," more sophisticated than the shows we performed at my drama camp. And, these teens are great. Camp Ovation is the Summer experience that every kid who has ever felt like an outcast needs to have. The film shows us that no matter how other people see us, or what we are like, the important thing is just to have courage, and to believe in our ability to overcome any obstacle that we have to face. When the film was over, I thought of another work that deals with overcoming obstacles, "Rent." These Two works are comparable because of the subject matter. However, Camp is lighthearted and fun. Mr. Graff, who directed the film and wrote the screenplay, did a fantastic job with the material.

Some of the best scenes in Camp were between Micheal, a camper, and Vlad, the new guy at camp. The dialogue in these scenes is adorable. I love how Micheal is direct about his attraction to Vlad. In one scene, when Vlad whipes his face with his shirt, Micheal looks Vlad over and says, "Sorry, I am only human." In another scene, when Vlad tries to get Micheal to call his parents by telling him how they can't resist him, and accuses Micheal of blushing, Micheal answers, "Are you kidding? I am doing everything but batting my eyes." Boy, I only wish I had a friend like Micheal when I was a teenager. I have to mention the fabulous musical numbers. "The Ladies Who Lunch," "Promises, Promises," "Father, Sister," "Turkey Lurky," just to name a few. I wanted to get up out of my seat and sing out loud. Camp is one of the best films I have had the privilage to see all year. I loved it! _Josh Weinman_

Camp is based on a real camp in the Catskills, NY. I have worked there for the past few years and had the slightly strange experience of attending the national premiere with the whole of the camp in addition to Todd Graf and the cast who then came back to the camp to sit in on rehearsals for the evening. For this among other reasons, I found it quite difficult to view the film objectively. The whole film was shot on location at the camp, apart from a couple of shots which were shot nearby, and so the majority of film was spent with the kids cheering whenever a new location was shown, or for a number of the cast who had really attended the camp in the past few years. For the sake of the film you have to accept that this is a camp with no counsellors, dorms that opposite sexes can go into at will among other things. However the depiction of the characters were strong. As a theatre kid said to me this summer, `I come here because everyone else is just as weird as I am!' And that is kind-a the motto of the movie. I do wish they'd showed more of the sports counsellor (who again does exist at a theatre camp in the same way that most sports camps put on a play). I know they shot more footage and had to edit it out. The songs are overdubbed as a previous reviewer wrote, but it is the kids singing them, they were just recorded in a studio. All in all I enjoyed the film, and am interested in hearing other peoples opinions who are not involved with the camp the film is based on. Yes kids like these do exist, and yes they are the guys you will see on Broadway and in the movies in a few years.