Movie Pie, October,
2006 Because, seriously,
Summercamp! is fantastic. It's hilarious. It's moving. It's
nostalgic and sentimental. It's a total blast from start to
finish. And my reluctance to us excessive punctuation is the
only thing preventing me from ending each of those
statements with an exclamation mark. The film will draw
inevitable comparisons to Spellbound because it has some
similar themes, not the least of which is training its lens
on quirky kids and watching them in the full splendor of
their quirkiness. This time, though, the children in
question aren't learning to spell complex words, they're
packing up their teddy bears and favorite pillows to head
off to sleep-away camp for three weeks. Following a group of
Illinois campers from their homes to a Wisconsin nature
retreat, the film features all the staples of camp life:
activities, homesickness, cabin pranks, first crushes,
frightful food and inter-camper conflict. A number of the
kids become touchstones for the audience, including Holly
(who has an almost obsessive appreciation for chickadees),
Cameron (an overweight teen who's the oldest boy in his
group) and more than a few outsiders who love camp because
it affords them the luxury of being themselves and making
friends. There's the boy who nonchalantly explains how his
very-successful attorney father is never home, the kids who
compare their levels of ADD, and the awkward young girl who
laments that she has no friends at home. You will laugh much
more often than you'll tear up during Summercamp! but, rest
assured, you will get sniffly. If the more subtle moments of
poignancy (a comforting bedtime story, a gesture of
friendship, a woeful letter home) don't get to you (like
they got to me!), then one scene in particular &endash;
which comes unexpectedly and out of left field &endash;
should do you in. And that's part of what makes the movie so
great. It would have been easy for filmmakers Brad Beesley
and Sarah Price to poke fun at their subjects, but instead
they infuse the film with a gigantic, squishy heart, and the
duo show a true love and appreciation for the kids they've
been filming as much as the entire camp experience as a
whole. I heard some people at
the Toronto Film Festival say they passed on this movie
because they never attended camp themselves and didn't think
they could relate to the film's content. I couldn't disagree
more! With all its joy and merriment, Summercamp! gently
addresses universal themes like friendship, family, unity,
heartbreak, fear and uncertainty. It is easily accessible to
anyone, whether or not they've ever braided gimp, sung the
"Baby Shark" song or slathered calomine lotion on a legful
of mosquito bites. So, drop your s'mores
and get thee to a screening!
You will
not a find a more entertaining, heartfelt or
unapologetically spirited documentary anywhere this year.
You won't. In fact, I dare you to try.
Film Treat,
October, 2006 Ahhhh…summer camp
movies…always the hallmark of a good time &endash;
"Meatballs III," "Wet Hot American Summer," "The Burning,"
"Sleepaway Camp," "Muddy Pig Sex." Mmmmm…the
memories…But as enriching as the aforementioned films
are in providing an accurate representation of summer camp
fun, none of them get as close as "Summercamp!" How did they
do it? Simple. They just took a camera down to a summer camp
and filmed all of the action. The result? It's kinda like
reality "Napoleon Dynamite." This documentary captures the
total summer camp experience by being right their with the
kids as they prepare for their trip, as they arrive to camp
and claim and their bunks, as they stumble through a bunch
of new experiences and activities…and as they cry for
mommy. Well, a few of them cry for mommy. "Summercamp!" is
loaded with non-stop charm as we get to know these kids and
all of their unique little quirks. "Summercamp!" is good clean fun.
Nothing really edgy here. It's just kids being goofy, having
a good time, getting into trouble and even occasionally
sustaining a bizarre injury - watch out for the hook on that
fishing line!!! It's fun and it's honest and it will go down
as one of the most entertaining movies of the
year.
New York Times
Friday, October 20, 2006
Documentary
filmmakers Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price take viewers back
to the sun-soaked days of summer as they follow campers ages
6 through 15 to a place where lifelong friendships are
forged, and the struggle against homesickness yields a
better understanding of the true value of independence. With
music by the Flaming Lips and Noisola, Summercamp! is a warm
tribute to an long-running institution that holds a special
place in the hearts of countless Americans. ~ Jason
Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Chicago Tribune
Sunday, October 8, 2006
Sometimes
funny, sometimes sad, sometimes sweet and always engaging,
this documentary about a summer at the Swift Nature Camp in
Minong, Wis., is a rustic gem. Apart from kids (mostly)
enjoying summer camp standards (canoeing, crafts, archery,
fishing, etc.), the filmmakers get the inside scoop on what
the campers and counselors are really thinking. From "who
likes whom" tales of burgeoning love to the heart-wrenching
reason one young girl is obsessed with finding a chickadee
songbird to counselors concerned by the numbers of campers
on meds for ADD, ADHD or depression, the young people really
strike a chord. One of the young camp counselors offers
moments of funny exasperation, for example, after nine weeks
of being available to campers 24/7: "Yeah ... I dunno ... if
I come back to work at a camp, it'll probably be this one,
because the kids are great ... but, God, they're here
forever." But the film, like so many summers, passes too
quickly.
Click to visit the
official SUMMECAMP! site