Camp

Director: Todd Graff
Year Released: 2003
Rating: 1.0

Kids who get beaten up/ostracized in school for their alterative lifestyles or oddness convene for a summer camp that allows them to express themselves by singing show tunes and getting a head-start on their Broadway careers. The song and dance numbers are technically impressive - the kids have talent - but this is a poor man's Fame, with the non-singing, non-dancing parts taking a backseat to the tap dancing or Sondheim-reciting. The script is very irritating, with the straight, white kid out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog showing up like a PG-13 version Terence Stamp in Teorema to liberate everyone from whatever problems they have (and help a gay roommate get over his crush) and also carefully deflecting any and all criticism of the precious and self-obsessed 'camp community' - Don Dixon's character has the only real outburst, but the film explains his unhappiness as a combination of alcohol and depression.