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CAMP
5/10
USA 2003
: Todd GRAFF : 114 mins
Camp is
a paradoxical kind of crowdpleaser: one that, while certain to delight
and entertain certain sections of the moviegoing public, will surely alienate
and thoroughly annoy those immune to its puppyishly endearing charms.
As a rough rule of thumb, the closer the viewer is to the characters shown
on screen – post-adolescents desperate to forge a career in showbiz -
the more pleasure he or she will get out of the experience. Meanwhile,
anyone with a low tolerance threshold for Broadway show-tunes in general,
and the work of Stephen Sondheim in particular, is warned to keep as far
away as possible.
Though set
in a summer camp for aspiring actors, singers and dancers, the title of
Camp is of course as much a statement of attitude and intent as
a geographical description – in this milieu, it’s no big deal that several
of the kids are gay, including Michael (Robin De Jesus), who we first
see attending his ‘normal’ high-school prom in drag. But, presumably wary
of ‘scaring off’ straight viewers, writer-director Graff takes care to
make his film as inoffensive and unobjectionable as possible, building
his script around a conventional heterosexual relationship between hunky
nice-guy Vlad (Daniel Letterle) and the slightly awkward Ellen (Joanna
Chilcoat).
And what a
clunkily familiar romance this turns out to be – to inject a bit of drama,
Graff even falls back on that most whiskery of love-story cliches: the
bit where the girl inadvertently comes across an open door through which
she sees her beau clinched in the arms of another. Needless to say, true
love wins out – fundamentally, Camp is a very old-fashioned kind
of artificial teen romance, right down to the perkily bright pastels that
dominate the production design, sets and costumes (by Dina Goldman, Tora
Peterson and Dawn Weisberg respectively) as captured by Kip Bogdahn’s
bland, high-grade DV camerawork.
But there surely
can’t be that many real-life teenagers who would choose to listen to the
kind of music that dominates this soundtrack – as indicated by
on-screen titles, the tunes performed by the kids range from the late
sixties to the early eighties, and are strictly established Broadway classics.
Each of the main characters has their turn in the spotlight, and they’re
certainly a talented lot: the best of several showstoppers is a terrific
rendition of Sondheim’s ‘Ladies Who Lunch’ by Fritzi (Anna Kendrick),
who sheds her previously mousy persona with startling speed after being
dissed by her vacuous blonde role-model Jill (Alana Allen).
This number
is staged with wit and flair, but too often the musical interludes are
overlong and get in the way of the ‘action’, padding the film out way
beyond its natural 85-90 minute running time. Graff’s exhaustive approach
to the songs may sorely try the patience of viewers who aren’t aficionados
of musical theatre – such audience members will probably find themselves
in full agreement with grouchy visiting expert Bert Hanley (Don Dixon),
a burned-out former wannabe-Sondheim who suddenly turns on his pupils
with a withering blast of what will sound to many viewers very much like
common sense.
“Bob Fosse
is dead!” he snaps, ruthlessly ticking the (stunned) kids off for being
so devoted to music written before any of them were born. But just as
we’re savouring what seems like a bracingly unexpected turn of events,
Graff’s preference for cuddly, show-must-go-on sentimentality kicks in.
Hanley’s long-gestating masterpiece (“the holy grail of musical theatre!”)
is (handily) discovered and staged by the kids. “You’re a bunch o’ little
freaks!” he exclaims approvingly, having undergone a somewhat speedy and
implausible change of heart. In the world of Camp, however, nobody
can stay miserable for long – and that’s an order.
13th
June, 2003
(seen 6th June: Showcase, Dudley)
by Neil
Young
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