When I read the description for this movie on Netflix, I was a little intrigued by the concept. I'd never seen a summer camp movie, I'd never been to summer camp, but there was something about the way that text was worded that made me want to watch this movie. Like always, I didn't read the Netflix reviews until it was too late. Normally, I ignore those reviewers, because of the tendency for them to rate a movie not on content, but on the technology supporting Watch Instantly. In one case, a movie called White Lion, the movie seems to be very good, but has a sound issue so that there's no audible dialogue on the streaming option, and thus receives negative reviews in lieu of complaints to Netflix. This is a perfect example of why I allow myself to ignore the Netflix posters, but this time it would have saved me a little time. I looked at the cast list, which is an impressive mix of well-known comic figures and a few figures who are well known, just not for comedic roles. So, I figured I'd give this a shot.
On the one hand, if you're looking for a comedy, you probably want to check somewhere else. I'm no stranger to dark comedy, and if this is it, it's so dark that it's completely outside my comic spectrum. Now, I thought the cast and film crew TRIED real hard to make this funny, they just failed to do so. There are scenes in which the cast are so obvious in those efforts that I was almost embarrassed to watch them do so poorly. In particular, a scene involving Paul Rudd and a temper tantrum comes to mind. Mr. Rudd is someone I like watching on screen, but this was such a pantomime of "typical teen" reactions that it felt and looked forced. There's also a montage sequence involving about a third of the cast that was probably supposed to be funny, but ends up looking like a pro-drug use message.
As a coming of age movie, this was probably a bit better. I think there's a fairly good, if rushed, portrayal of teen life and love, how people make the same bad decisions in a cyclical fashion. Some of this is ruined by the cast's frantic antics to make something funny happen, but for the most part that particular message shines through. I was a little surprised that the movie focused entirely on the camp staff and more or less ignored the campers except for one group of kids.
There's a lot of star power here, but most of them have better performances elsewhere. In the case of Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, they have lots of better options to choose from. I guess we can just be thankful that this wasn't a 100 minutes of Molly Shannon sniffing her own armpit.
