Customer Reviews

Summercamp!

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Watching the honest of real kids is a very heart warming. No acting.
(other than the typical teenage strutting)

Its amazing what kids will tell a total stranger about their lives:
1) a kid who has no dad due to drug use
2) a large kid who has massive personality issues
3) an artsy girl who hides behind clever words

Five minutes in I thought 'I'm going to hate this movie'. It seemed
like it was just going to be a documentary of arbitrary cutesy moments
of kids at camp. But a bunch of very good reviews led me to it, and by
halfway in I understood why.

As these kids (and their counselors) come into focus as human beings it
actually becomes a moving memory of childhood - its joys, but also its
confusions, pains, hurts and loses.

That doesn't mean it's a down-beat movie. Ultimately it's vibe is positive,
but it's not a Hollywood, Pollyanna kind of positive. It gets just how life
is bittersweet, even (or especially?) when you're 10 years old.

Admittedly, this candid moment (the above title) was my favorite ... by far. As someone who has worked multiple back-to-back sessions at a residential (academic) summer-program, I completely relate to the exhausted frustration of camp-counselor #22 (who was in her eighth week of cabin-life). After countless weeks of no sleep and bad food, you start to go a little nuts ...

My overall my problem with this film was that it remained too much on the surface ... the sickening sweetness of the piece became tedious in about forty minutes. This is NOT a critique of "Swift Nature Camp" ... in fact, this is very much a compliment to the staff (who is clearly well-trained in conflict-resolution). In fact, the decided lack of "drama" would please me as a parent ... but nearly bored me to pain as a viewer. The awkward talent-show, the daily activities, the hot-dog eating contests: it's great for the children but makes for some DULL "entertainment." (Sorry!)

Yes, there is some great commentary on the over-medication of children (I could not agree more that ADHD is wildly over-diagnosed ... and that "they don't need to be medicated to calm down"). Likewise, there is a brief exploration of absent-fathers. But these moments are sparse. Perhaps this film would have been more potent with a slightly older group of campers or with a (considerably more) fearless film-crew (I suspect that much of the more "hard-hitting" material was edited-out for the sake of the children ... which, again, is not a "negative," it just makes for a superficial piece).

As it is, "Summercamp!" would be fantastic viewing for bible-school groups (nothing wrong with that) or possibly as a treat for elementary-school children (again, nothing wrong with that). But if you expect any deeper meaning from this work you will find yourself painfully disappointed. I think this work proves that "lots of heart" does not yield a satisfying film.