Camp (2003) Movie Review

Camp (2003) Movie Credits:

thetallguy's score:
4 out of 5

Average Score

based on 0 ratings

No-one wants to see this movie.

Report bad or inappropriate content

Camp (2003) U.K. Distributor:

Not set

Camp (2003) U.S. Cinema Release Date:

25^th Jul 2003

Camp (2003) U.K. Cinema Release Date:

5^th Sep 2003

Visit our Movie Information Page for Camp (2003)!

Add a review for this movie:

This Week's US Cinema Releases:

This Week's UK Cinema Releases:

Camp (2003) Synopsis:

When the kids on a packed bus heading to the country are belting Sondheim tunes, you know Camp Ovation is different. It is a place where talented young people can get away from their everyday lives and be themselves without apologies. Long summer days at Camp Ovation are ripe with life lessons, romance, fast friendships, jealousies, and a trunk full of backstage antics. As the summer kicks off, the campers eagerly await the arrival of the Broadway-legend-turned-washout Bert Hanley and also make the shocking discovery that there is an honest-to-goodness straight boy in the bunch.

Camp (2003) Review:

Following a string of dismal Broadway flops, bitter, alcoholic songwriter Bert Hanley takes a job at a musical summer camp for young performers, where he finds inspiration while staging a new production.

Ever watched a movie about a summer Camp that has mainly gay guys and outsider girls singing Stephen Sondheim songs before? Nope me neither. Reason enough to make this a must see.

Camp takes us to a summer stage camp where a straight kid goes for the first time, much to the amazement of the regulars. They�ve never had a straight guy attend before, and this is the centre of the movie, providing most of the jokes and interplay between the characters.

The kids who attend the camp are not your normal kids, and are stuck in a timewarp of the classic age of stage, they stage a different musical every fortnight. One great scene is when the black kids complain about the lack of black roles, with hilarious results.

Danile Letterle plays Vlad, the straight guy, who although looking like a boy band singer much prefers singing Stephen Sondheim songs, while still riding his skateboard. Naturally the gay guys and the girls all fancy him. And the human way we explore the characters of one of the gay guys and one the girls who are both in love with him is what really works well here.

The songs are all delivered with an exuberant flair, with some of them being touching and heartwarming. The scene where one of the girls poisons her enemy to replace her on stage was particularly funny.

Stephen Trask , who provided much of the soundtrack for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, writes much of the original material here, it�s fresh funny and heartwarming.

The movie could easily have dropped into painting the character�s as clich�s, instead having fund with the characters showing them as human, but always remembering to keep it�s tongue in it�s cheek.

The movie does have it�s flaws though, as after a great start, the middle section of the movie does flag, feels confused and would have benefited from tighter editing.

A great look at a world you may not know, with a joyous romp through musical theatre.