Hollywood's latest strategy to bring older audiences back to the theaters involves creating movies which they can relate to. 'Summer Camp', a film built on the experiences of retirees and septuagenarians, is a case study worth examining. Despite its excellent casting, the film falls flat with strained slapstick humor and predictable plot lines, failing to fully capture the essence of an older audience's interests and experiences.
The screenplay of the movie, directed by Castille Landon, starts promising with engaging dialogues. However, the momentum soon fizzles out and fails to lead anywhere significant. The plot strands the accomplished actors in a series of predictable and humorless scenes that do little for the overall progression of the movie. The setting, however, is quite accurate, drawing on the experiences of three childhood friends at a summer camp.
The narrative tries to establish each of the three friends' personalities, played by Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, and Alfre Woodard as they had been stagnant and haven't transformed since their tween selves. However, the attempts lack depth and leave much to be desired. Each character has an apparent flaw that needs correction. For instance, Keaton's portrayal as a workaholic widowed CEO lacks conviction due to her character's overuse of ditty routines.
Further in the movie, the return of the central characters' childhood crushes offer some engaging moments, but they remain momentarily exciting and don't overall elevate the movie's narrative.
The key issue with 'Summer Camp' is that it doesn't let the actors explore their characters and relies heavily on the back-and-forth reaction scenes. It's when the narrative calms down that the movie finds its heart and nerve, shining in moments of sincere conversations among the friends and potential couples, and deriving humor more effectively.
In summary, 'Summer Camp' falls short in its attempt. Instead of giving depth and nuance to the narrative and characters, it relies heavily on silly humor, trivial disasters, and simplistic interactions which do not resonate effectively with the intended older audience. Despite some cutting remarks and well-played moments, 'Summer Camp' offers no surprise and follows the predictable path of a typical Hollywood script that ends on an assured positive note.
