Camp

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.

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.

...although that may not be saying much, it truly loves these kids that it portrays and is clearly made for such kids. Other reviewers have faulted "Camp" for its shallow plot, the inconsistency of its characters, the stereotypes, and an overall amateurish quality. All I can say is "What'd you expect? It's a teen drama!" In fact, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have worked if the film tried to be more grown-up. To properly enjoy "Camp", adult viewers need to recall their world view during their teen years. Only then can they realize how much they would have wanted to see a movie like this when they were teens. Of course, if you were a quarterback or prom queen in high school, then perhaps you wouldn't be able to relate to this movie at all.

There are two words in the universe that would make a straight man want to see this movie; Anna Kendrick. In her autobiography "Scrappy Little Nobody" she originally thought the only people who would've bothered with this movie were closeted homosexuals who believe this movie helped them come out. But if you're not 100% homophobic, there could still be something in the movie you might find worthwhile.

Ahh, life before Camp Ovation; While the campers perform the song "How Shall I See You Through My Tears," we have a montage of some of the other campers before getting the chance to do so. We have Vlad Baumann rehearsing a speech in his mirror, Michael Flores going to the junior prom in drag, and not only having his invitation torn up by the prom committee, but getting the living crap kicked out of him by a bunch of jocks, and Ellen Lucas trying to convince her brother to take her to the junior prom after failing to get a date (although I can't imagine why). But going to this summer camp for the performing arts gives all these kids and more a chance to not only perform, but to be themselves,... or so it may seem that way. Kendrick plays Fritzi Wagner a would-be actress who also tries to be a toadie to the popular Jill Simmons (Alana Allen). Shaun (Steven Cutts) wants to convince his shy little brother Petie (Kahiry Bess) that he can make it as a black man in the performing arts. Another camper named Jenna (Tiffany Taylor) was able to talk her parents into letting her go to Camp Ovation as opposed to a fat camp, on the condition that she goes with her jaws wired shut.

At the first audition, we see Vlad perform a cover of "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones, with the camp background band playing to the very note, and one of the female counselors is convinced he's straight. Evidently the lesson is if you want to be viewed as straight, just perform an old Rolling Stones song during your audition. Even with that, he ends up striking a friendship with Michael. He doesn't insult the guy for being gay, but he does tell him that if he were straight he have girls hitting on him left and right, using his Latino heritage to pass himself off as a Latin Lover. Vlad himself seems to have his heart set on Ellen, and they seem like they're going to hit it off, until Jill swoops in and takes him away from her for a little nookie.

The camp is supposed to be supervised by Bert Hanley, a playwright who had a big hit named "The Children's Crusade," back in the day, and hasn't been able to do anything else but drink ever since. Other counselors include a dance instructor who makes a speech during one of his lessons which is reminiscent of Debbie Allen's speech in Fame, which one of the kids snarks about until that teacher makes him eat his words, and a Cuban refugee director who evidently feared that the avant-garde play "Midnight Sun" would cause reprisals from their "Revolutionary Armed Forces." His maniacal tirades are one of the things that bring Vlad and Ellen closer to one another, and so are Jill's insults over her appearance. But how long can that last?

After Jill chastises Fritzi for washing her underwear, she gets a pep talk from Bert, then sabotages her performance from "Company," by spiking her drinks with a well-known household cleaner. She yanks Jill off-stage in the middle of singing "The Ladies Who Lunch" and makes that song her own! You will forget Elaine Stritch after this, in fact, you'll forget Alana Allen after this! Later when Bert hears Vlad casually perform one of his songs, he interrupts him and the rest of the campers and tells them they're wasting their time trying to make it in show business. After he leaves the porch, Vlad goes into the counselor's office and chastises him for trashing the campers. "They"? Did you think I wasn't talking to you too?" No Mr. Hanley, I think he knew it. But it's after this exchange while the camp administrator is passed out drunk that this golden boy he despises discovers some of his other work, and he rallies the other campers to perform some of it, in order to prove that they and he are both worthy.

The highlight of this movie was Kendrick's show stopping performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch," which she literally steals from Alana Allan. At a close second is the cast's cover of "Century Plant" by Victoria Williams. Others might disagree with me and put Williams' song at the top, and it's hard not to imagine why.

If you grew up in the New York Tri-State area like I did, you've seen as many ads on TV and in newspapers for Broadway plays as you have for movies. So, whether you're straight, gay, or bisexual, you'd be exposed to some of the references to the various plays here. There are some truly funny scenes during the movie. During the auditions, one of the counselors draws a picture of himself committing suicide next to a piano while another anonymous girl sings "Tomorrow" from "Annie." Another is when Ellen is with Petie with her own rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from "Dreamgirls," and the boy gets spooked and runs off stage. Even Todd Graff, who wrote and directed this movie found the scenario hilarious.

Those who see this movie for Ms. Kendrick should know that it's really not her movie. In fact her part is barely a B-Story, despite her outstanding musical number. The movie itself is based on Graff's own life at a camp known as Stagedoor Manor while he was on a break from his membership in the Short Circus on "The Electric Company." Because of this, it makes me wonder if the gay kids could've been that openly gay in the 1970's. I even thought of making the title of my review "This Movie is So Gay." Regardless, the musical performances are what makes this movie great even if you don't like the story lines. I think there's still a good chance that you will.

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.