Skip the bus going to ‘Camp’

Filmed locally at Stage Door Manor in Loch Sheldrake, “Camp” has plenty of good factors working for it. It plays its musical theatre theme to the hilt, with its campy Broadway musical numbers so wonderfully enjoyable that you can’t help but take pleasure in them.

Furthermore, first-time director Todd Graff helms his creation with originality and flair, and I would not hesitate to seek out his next project. Unfortunately, because the “Camp” script relies too much on tired summer camp clichés and falls prey to too many plot holes, no amount of goodwill can hide the fact that the film is difficult to take as a whole.

Camp Ovation is a performing arts camp where all the Broadway wannabes congregate. The movie gives us cursory introductions to the main characters: Vlad (Daniel Letterle), our resident cute boy who is apparently our hero, but his rather cretinous actions give thought to the contrary; Michael (Robin de Jesus), a lonely gay boy and drag queen whose resemblance to Justin Guarini is distracting; and Ellen (Joanna Chilcoat), the down-to-earth girl who falls for Vlad (didn’t see that coming, did you?).

Put a romantic comedy plot on autopilot and set it to “love triangle” and you can come to your own conclusion. Of course, we also have to deal with a lot of other supporting characters, some mildly entertaining, like an overweight girl whose jaw is wired shut (Tiffany Taylor), and some not, like the bitchy sexpot (Alana Allen) whose abused sidekick (Anna Kendrick) predictably exacts revenge in a horrific—but not amusing—way.

But perhaps the biggest insult to the audience’s intelligence is Bert Lanley (Don Dixon), a bitter former songwriter/lyricist-turned-camp instructor, swilling Jack Daniels like it was water. Surprise, surprise; it’s up to the campers to teach Bert to love the music again, and that he’s not really such a failure after all, and blah blah blah. You and I both know how this will end—and it doesn’t involve Bert giving the kids the middle finger and falling back to the booze for good.

If you can wade through all of the failed humor, the formulaic plot, and the broad character archetypes, you’ll find much to like about “Camp.” However, if you’re looking to this movie for something fresher than worn-out movie conventions that have been old hat since 1987, you’ll find yourself on a fool’s errand.