Movie Review: Theater Camp
Theater Camp is a film that has heart, humor, and not much else. This is a paper-thin mockumentary that despite having several interesting characters, can’t decide which character or story to focus on.
Theater Camp takes us to AdirondACTS, a theater camp in upstate New York. After its founder Joan (Amy Sedaris) falls into a coma, her clueless “crypto-bro” son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) is tasked with keeping the thespian paradise running. With the camp struggling financially, Troy must put all his focus on the camp and use the talents of counselors like Amos (Ben Platt), Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon), and the rest of the camp’s eccentric teachers to come up with a solution before the curtain rises on opening night.
Theater Camp was written by Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, and Noah Galvin, and was directed by Gordon and Lieberman, and it feels like each person had their own idea of what they wanted the movie to be, and rather than decide whose idea was the best, they jammed all their ideas together into this 94-minute movie, which ultimately leads to nothing. One plot focuses on Amos and Rebecca-Diane, two long-time counselors who write an original play every year for the camp and recruit the most talented campers for their play. They also go through their own struggle as friends because Rebecca-Diane booked an acting gig and is scared to tell Amos about it.
The other main plot is Troy trying to save the camp from going into foreclosure. Troy has no idea what he is doing. He is constantly vlogging, doesn’t have the respect of the campers or the counselors, and must deal with a representative from a rich, rival camp who wants to buy the camp and use the land to expand their own. Troy eventually starts to get to know the campers and counselors and appreciate everything the camp represents. Tatro is perfect as the bro with a heart of gold.
And then slightly dusted on top of these two plots is a camp full of colorful and talented kids and counselors, though we don’t get to know any of them, which is the biggest loss of the film. I really wish the film focused more on the campers and made them a focal point of the plot. All the campers that we see are full of life and passion, which is something the film could have used more of.
I think a better approach to Theater Camp would have been to focus more on Troy’s journey from crypto-bro and not caring about camp to loving the camp and his desperate attempts to save it while he also interacts with the campers and the counselors. This would have allowed us to know more about the counselors and campers while also making Troy a more developed character to root for. Amos and Rebecca-Diane should have been moved to side characters, which would have been perfect for them.
Theater Camp does have a lot of great humor and is a sweet love letter to theater kids everywhere, but it struggles to juggle its several plots and characters, resulting in little development for either and a wasted opportunity on the next great mockumentary comedy.
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