Alicia I love this movie so much

Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

wes-connors New York junior and high school students go to a summer camp for kids interested in musical theatre. Lead actor is attractive Daniel Letterle (as Vladimir "Vlad" Baumann). With highlights and good muscle tone, Mr. Letterle arouses interest in most of the other kids. Gay is the norm at "Camp Ovation", so Letterle stands out. The unpacking of his football lets everyone know he's straight. Honest. Letterle's roommate is cross-dressing Robin De Jesus (as Michael Flores), who was rejected and beat up at his prom for showing up in drag. Lead actress is chunky but pleasant Joanna Chilcoat (as Ellen Lucas), who hopes to land a boyfriend...This stereotypical "comedy about drama" will mostly appeal to younger teenagers who enjoy high school musicals...Letterle's character is written (by director Todd Graff) with some unexpected depth; the mystery of his medication is withheld, he plays the slowly sexual teasing of his roommate perfectly, and an honest portrait of a young attention-seeking actor emerges. Other interesting stories are the "All About Eve" part played by Anne Kendrick (as Fritzi Wagner) and the washed-up musical writer Don Dixon (as Bert Hanley) drowning his career in alcohol. The show songs hit a peak with Tiffany Taylor (as Jenna Malloran), so fat her father has had her mouth wired shut, startling everyone (well, not me) by revealing a great singing voice. Who knew?****** Camp (1/21/03) Todd Graff ~ Daniel Letterle, Joanna Chilcoat, Robin de Jesus, Don Dixon

pogostiks SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!!! The most amazing thing about this film is that Steven Sondheim actually agreed to play himself in it. You'd think he had better taste.Camp is really one of the most unprofessional films I have seen in a long time (except perhaps for the musicians).First of all, the sets look like they were made on the lowest of budgets.Second, it was totally clichéd and you could figure out where it was going looooong before it got there. There was almost nothing in it that was original...we have seen it all before and much better done.Third... it is an insult to our intelligence. Three gay guys and a straight share the same bunkhouse and the straight doesn't feel even a little uncomfortable? At almost the end of the film the straight guy takes off his shirt and the gay guy gets all hot and bothered...ummmm...if they share the same bunkhouse, wouldn't he have already seen it weeks ago? The rich beautiful girl just drops her bags and the other girl picks them up and becomes her slave? Pul-leeze! Also, how does she end up getting a bunkhouse with a bed that looks like it should have been Mae West's? How come she isn't sharing a bunkhouse like all the other girls? The acting was pretty low par...I barely believed any of them except maybe the black kid who complained about playing white parts in the plays...But then again, I guess it is hard to make cardboard characters come to life, so I guess it isn't the kids' fault if the acting comes across as less than acceptable.Need I go on? This whole thing comes across as a TV sitcom that would have been acceptable in the 1950's but would have been considered as not sophisticated enough for a ten year old by today's standards.Oh, and, for a film that is supposed to be gay positive, how come the main character is the only straight boy in the entire movie? We see three girls and one gay boy all having crushes on Mr Hetero... but none of the gay boys gets a chance to have a boyfriend. Why not? It would have livened things up a bit to have at least an attempt at equality. Or aren't gay romances (that aren't doomed) acceptable for the straight market?

UnderPressure Being familiar with Stagedoor Manor, the camp which "CAMP" was based on, and having attended a similar institution as a child, I turned on this movie fully expecting a nice homage to a place where young people can be themselves and explore their personalities and interests. But instead I was completely blindsided by the horrendous script and exceedingly poor execution of this terrible excuse for an indie flick.This film contains the most stilted and awkward dialog I've ever heard in a feature film. And I don't mean awkward in a fun, teenager way, I mean awkward in the way that some conversations just didn't make sense.In other cases, character traits or flaws were mentioned in one scene never to be seen or heard about again; these traits and flaws had zero impact on the behavior of the characters and came completely out of left field.Many key "plot points," in the film are not actually depicted, they are mentioned as necessary throughout to fill in the audience in a kind of "oh by the way" or "did you hear?" fashion. Instead, the script focuses on amateur and frankly boring musical covers by the less than impressive "campers." Also hindered by these overly-long and terribly-choreographed "show" scenes was the character development for the majority of the main characters. With the possible exception of Michael (Robin de Jesus), the campers and their theater teachers begin and end the film having experienced no personal changes, having undergone no transforming journey. Oh wait; one character does changes, however it wasn't over time brought on by understanding and acceptance, or simple cause and effect: it occurred in a matter of seconds, to suit the purpose of this hackneyed screenplay.Probably the most horrible thing about the film was that there was no supervision of the handful of campers. In fact the only adults at the camp seemed to be two staff members, three instructors, and five musicians, none of whom ever appear as the campers run around all night, take off their clothes, make out, and have sex. And while I know, having attended and been a counselor at a camp like this, there are many real campers who have gotten away with such things and more, these particular campers seem carefree and careless about what they do; they don't have to sneak around or take any caution in their activities. In fact there are no consequences for anybody, whether they be drunkard counselors or campers trying, literally, to murder one another. Besides the obvious reasons this might be a problem, the no-holds-barred attitude of the campers kills any tension or intrigue in the campers revels.To be perfectly honest, I don't know how this film got made at all. I know the place and I know it could make a great story if someone were to try it from a different angle, but this script didn't seem like it even made it to a second draft.

themodnymph take your typical teen movie. add showtunes. take away any hint of talent outside of some pretty good belting voices. throw in stephen sondheim just so any theatre kid will feel compelled to see it and you have camp. this movie's plot is so feeble that it would be better off if it just showed the performance segments. the acting is painful to watch. really, as a theatre lover, i'm ashamed that so many of my peers relate to this. i wish people would realize that they're a lot better than this movie. it never really goes anyway. you never really bond with any of the characters and you're left at many moments thinking,"what was that all about??"just awful