BEFORE: Last night's film had a camping sequence, plus all the appearances of cast members from "The State" made me think of "Wet Hot American Summer" - so I'm moving this one up on the schedule (it was on my "last resorts" list of unlinkables). But linking is actually easy, since Paul Rudd had an uncredited cameo (as John Lennon) in "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", along with Justin Long (as George Harrison).
THE PLOT: When a summer camp director gets injured, the diverse group of college freshmen counselors take charge and spice up the everyday routine of the camp.
AFTER: This is what I know about acting - to do it well, someone either has to speak the truth (the natural or "method" school) or be a very, very good liar. Don't believe me? Watch the conviction by a passionate person in a documentary - the REALness of what that person is saying, that's the goal. And in between telling the truth and being a very, very good liar is a huge, terrible void called "bad acting".
There's not a single person in this film that can deliver a line in a natural, believable way - and if the actors don't believe the words they're saying, the whole effect is ruined. Possible exception - Justin Long (last heard in "Planet 51"), and this was only his second film - so either he was already a fantastic actor, or he was just being real, a geeky kid playing a geeky kid.
This film was released the same year as "Wet Hot American Summer", which I greatly enjoyed - that film was so outrageous that it was impossible to take seriously, which added to its charm. This film takes itself WAY too seriously, with characters constantly trying to look at the meaning of everything, over-analyzing their relationships and their time at camp in great detail. Sometimes people just go to camp and enjoy themselves - or in the case of the counselors, they just do their job. If you went to your job and you were constantly wondering about the big picture, you'd never get anything done.
I went out for barbecue tonight, and I had two choices - the Texas BBQ restaurant and the Carolina BBQ restaurant. I flipped a coin to decide (and one must abide by these sort of things, or why do them) and the Carolina restaurant won out. It was a fine meal, don't get me wrong - but my main complaint about it was that it wasn't the Texas BBQ restaurant, which is more of a meat market (literally, not figuratively) and perhaps a better homage to meat - honestly, brisket that just melts.
In the same way, the main complaint about this film is that it's NOT "Meatballs" or "Wet Hot American Summer" - it made me wish I was watching one of those films instead.
NITPICK POINT: So, a camp counselor gets hit by lightning and is essentially catatonic - does anyone think that maybe bringing him to a hospital might be a good idea? Nah, better just let him sit down for a few days, he'll be fine.
Also starring Brad Renfro (last seen in "Sleepers"), Dominique Swain (last seen in "Face/Off"), Jaime King (last seen in "Blow"), and Peter Stormare (last seen in "Bad Company").
RATING: 3 out of 10 water balloons
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