Summer Camp

There comes a time when story ideas seem to run out and then those involved need to save a project by employing some good actors and actresses.

This is one od those films that seem to belong to a second rate streaming service that you dont need to pay much money for.

The first few minutes where the young characters star is quite sweet. The rest of the fillm presents main characters are predictable and boring. The three leading female characters are boring and this is stories we have seen before. I am so tired of seeing Diane Keaton as a over achieving boss lady in turtleneck tops being all hysterical and pathetic at the same time. Jimmy and Vic are both irritating and just too over the top to be takes seriously as real people.

I feel like I've seen the film a few times before on the Hallmark channel with teenagers. This just doesn't cut it anymore. We expect better.

We should have, could have and would have. There comes a time when you should not.

For a movie with such a talented, capable cast, with several Oscar/Emmy winners, this is an embarrassment. I don't remember even smiling during the entire film, especially as I sat fuming about how much I'd spent to waste my time. The price of admission was all that kept me from walking out, unlike several others sitting in front of me who had more sense. It was like someone said "Who wants to make a few bucks? It won't require much effort." It's not even worth wasting your time if someone picks it up for streaming. This could easily have been a hilarious, poignant movie but falls absolutely flat. Not even sure why I gave it 2 stars.

Summer Camp features a promising cast. Unfortunately they are brought down by weird plastic surgery, a strange cairacture supptoring role, and a food fight between 60-somethings, which would never happen. The most real parts of the movie were in the very first scenes, when the main characters were girls.

The premise makes me wish I could return to my summer camp days: sleeping in a cabin, making frieds with other girls, doing arts and crafts, waterfront, and campfire.

This script did nothing for these star players. Costuming was totally unrealistic as well. I would have fallen asleep if I was watching this at home; fortunately I was in a theater with food and a beer.

Senior citizen comedies generally suck, and the exceptionally weak "Summer Camp" is no exception. Motivational speaker Kathy Bates pulls estranged pals Diane Keaton (sadly obligatory for this kinda fare) & Alfre Woodard to a 50yr reunion of their childhood summer camp (duh) with the likes of Eugene Levy, Dennis Haysbert, Beverly D'Angelo. Cue a bunch of 'hilarious' sequences (such as folk falling into food trays and/or out of rafts) as grievances are aired, lives are sorted, and everyone gets somewhat wiser (sigh). Experienced writer / director Castille Landon (who also has a supporting role) really pooped the bed on this one. So lame.

Greetings again from the darkness. There is always space (and a need) for silly or mindless entertainment. But even that genre requires some skill and refinement, so as not to stoop to imbecilic. The Farelly brothers, the Monty Python troupe, Abrams & Zucker, and Mel Brooks all understood this when crafting a movie. Writer-director Castille Landon has been making movies for a while now, and it appears this concept has eluded her despite assembling her most well-known cast.

Camp Pinnacle was established in 1928 (according to the sign) and there is a group of young girls we see maneuvering through a traumatic first-time event for one of them who is not quite 11 years old. An older girl offers some very personal assistance, and a lifelong friendship begins among the three outcasts in Sassafras Cabin. Year after year, the girls return for a few weeks of camp shenanigans and bonding. We then jump ahead for the Camp's 50-year reunion (we assume this is 50-year reunion of the year these girls started attending and not 50 years for the camp itself, which would have put this at 1978).

Self-help guru (we don't use that word) Ginny Moon (Kathy Bates, Oscar winner MISERY, 1990) is the driving force behind organizing the reunion, and especially in getting her grown-up friends to attend. Mary (multi-Emmy winning Alfre Woodard) is a nurse, while Nora (Diane Keaton, Oscar winner ANNIE HALL, 1977) is a workaholic business owner. Personalities are quickly established. Ginny Moon has never married and rides around in a pink tour bus with her catchphrase, "Get Your S*** Together" plastered on the side. Mary is a talented nurse who is questioning her long marriage to her self-centered husband (Tom Wright). Nora is the type who uses her work as an excuse to avoid living a life.

Supporting roles are covered by Beverly D'Angelo, Betsy Sodaro, Josh Peck, Eugene Levy (as a love interest!), Dennis Haysbert, and Nicole Richie. There is really no reason to go in depth into what happens in this film. It seems obvious the filmmaker is hoping to capitalize on the success of recent films like BOOK CLUB and 80 FOR BRADY. The potential was certainly here, but the final product is simply insulting, belittling, and demeaning to women. Food fights and pillow fights may be camp staples, but inane dialogue and unbelievable situations and reactions make for painful viewing. Ms. Keaton, in particular, seems to mail in her performance with an overdose of her patented head shakes and sighs (and wardrobe). Ms. Bates and Ms. Woodard outclass her in every scene, with Ms. Woodard delivering the film's single best scene in her confrontation with her husband.

For years we have heard that the acting opportunities for older women are limited, and clearly there is an audience for stories about mature women. What's equally obvious is that these women deserve significantly better stories and better roles. Exploring the concept of finding one's self in life's later stages is a topic worth pursuing ... it's simply a concept that deserves better than this.

Opening May 31, 2024.