Theater Camp movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Theater Camp

This hilarious and sweet film is now playing in theaters.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 32 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

I used to take dance, singing, and theater classes when I was a little girl and into my teens, so I really got a kick out of this movie. It’s about an eccentric staff of a rundown theater camp in upstate New York during a summer when the founder’s stroke put her in a coma. Her “bro-y” son had to figure out how to keep the camp afloat in her absence as the financial future of the camp is hanging in the balance.

The entertaining film was written and directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman with additional writing help from Noah Galvin. This is Molly’s and Nick’s directorial debut. They, clearly, had a blast putting this movie together. It makes for a fun summer movie.

The movie has already won “Best Ensemble” at the Sundance Film Festival. It was also nominated for other awards at other film festivals at Sundance, SXSW, and Seattle International.

THINGS I LIKED:

More Ben Platt, please! I just love his voice. He and Noah Galvin are a couple in real life. They both played the starring role in Dear Evan Hansen. Such a great stage play and movie!
The rest of the talented cast includes Caroline Aaron, Nathan Lee Graham, Molly Gordon, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Amy Sedaris, and so many young kids who just got their break in movies!
There are some truly talented kids in the movie.
The story is filmed like a mockumentary and absolutely doesn’t take itself too seriously.
There is a lot of spoken and visual humor. Thespians will be the ones that enjoy it the most.
The cards on the screen give us entertaining and often hilarious background information during the entire movie.
The ending is actually really sweet and touching.
We get to hear a lot of original music with amusing lyrics.
Fun fact #1: The film was shot in only 19 days, resulting in a whopping 70 hours of footage! It must have been painful to try to weed through all of the footage and cut so much out.
Fun fact #2: They filmed the movie at the URJ Kutz camp in Warwick, New York. Sadly, the camp is now closed, another reminder that we need to help support our local companies and the arts.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Act 1 establishes the characters and the goofiness, but the plot really doesn’t present itself until Act 3 when it’s quickly resolved.
People who aren’t into musical theater or plays might not think the humor is very funny.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Profanity, including an F-bomb
Visual and spoken jokes about doing cocaine.
Lots of children and adults in the LGBTQ+ community are represented.

THEMES:

Belonging
Friendship
Helping children find their voice
Supporting others
Ambition

FUNNY LINES:

“Wolf Blitzer has a blister on his upper lip.” – group recitation
“We’re starting our past lives seminar.” – Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon)
“I’m not mad. I’m just furious.” Amos Klobuchar (Ben Platt)
“Tear sticks are doping for actors.” – Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon)
“You guys are so talented, so unbelievable. This will break you. This will fully destroy you. Congratulations on being the most talented kids at camp.” – Amos Klobuchar (Ben Platt)
“You need to know that only 3% of people make it. The rest end up in a mental facility or a Go Go box in Hell’s Kitchen.” – Amos Klobuchar (Ben Platt)