Camp (2003)

“Please — I’m a child.”

What’s it all about? Vlad (Daniel Letterle), “an honest-to-god straight boy”, signs up for a summer theatre camp called Camp Oblivion where he meets shy Ellen (Joanna Chilcoat), popular Jill (Alana Allen) and Michael (Robin de Jesús), a gay teenager who was violently beaten after attending his prom in drag. CAMP also stars Anna Kendrick and Don Dixon.

Sometimes uncomfortably vapid narrative is worth it, as long as you get a couple of great musical numbers and excessive referencing to cross-dressing. This is pretty much how CAMP squeaks by. There are long stretches of the film that are ponderous, without interesting characters, and often indulgent regarding Vlad’s good looks. (Vlad on the whole is unbearable as a character, and he’s so not straight.)

But then there’s a musical theatre quip — black campers cast in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, for example — or a bitchy gay guy rolls his eyes, and I can’t help myself. There is even a birthday party where everyone genderswaps and dresses in drag, and it is amazing. I like what I like and I will not relent. CAMP isn’t a very good film at all but — Wait, wait. Stephen Sondheim does a cameo. He actually shows up and says words. And a man’s crippling depression and alcoholism is cured by a group musical number. What was I talking about again? Never mind. I have to re-watch every scene from CAMP with Anna Kendrick in it.

Favourite scene: As the nerdy Fritzi, Anna Kendrick does “Ladies Who Lunch” (COMPANY) and it’s delightful. Actually, everything about Kendrick in CAMP is delightful. In her short amount of screen-time, she outclasses and outacts everyone else in the film. Kendrick’s Fritzi is a mousy little thing who idolizes the camp’s queen bee blonde, Jill. It’s an obsession that could really only manifest itself in grade school between girls, ending up with Fritzi hand-washing Jill’s underwear in the bathroom sink. Weirded out, Jill unceremoniously dumps Fritzi as her sidekick. Fritzi is not happy. Described as a “scary little girl” by the camp’s theatre director, Fritzi realizes that she can do anything if she puts her mind to it. Of course, she’s a little crazy and goes for it, ending up with the best lines and musical number in the entirety of CAMP. It only took a little bit of poison for it to happen.

Notes: Directed by Todd Graff; Produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Christine Vachon; Written by Todd Graff; Starring Anna Kendrick, Daniel Letterle, Don Dixon, Joanna Chilcoat, Alana Allen, Robin de Jesús; Music by Stephen Trask, Jon Lind, Victoria Williams; Cinematography by Kip Bogdahn; Editing by Myron I. Kerstein.

Tagged as: Alana Allen, Anna Kendrick, Christine Vachon, Daniel Letterle, Danny DeVito, Don Dixon, Joanna Chilcoat, Jon Lind, Kip Bogdahn, Michael Shamberg, Myron I. Kerstein, Robin de Jesús, Stacey Sher, Stephen Trask, Todd Graff, Victoria Williams