I didn’t know what I was getting into with Theater Camp. From the trailer, it looked like a nice little comedy with misfits mentoring a bunch of theater kids. While essentially, I got that I didn’t expect a charming faux documentary about a theater camp. The setup is when Joan (Amy Sedaris), the founder and head of a children’s theater camp, suddenly falls into a coma; her son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) takes over the camp for the rest of the summer to keep it going as the long-running staff attempt to give the kids a great camp experience like they’re used to. Also, Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) attempt to put on another original play with the kids as they learn that they might be growing apart after growing up together, going to this camp, and now teaching at it. The ensemble cast gives me the feel of a Christopher Guest film and also the feel of a modern documentary. It adds to the sense of realism of the film while the characters are absurd in terms of how they react to everything. Each over-the-top character feels great to see on screen and works well with the kids.
I do like the camera movement in this; it has an energy to it as it moves from scene to scene and from character to character. Along with the editing, it knows when to move fast and to slow it down. The film does look a bit dark at times, but I saw it on TV versus a theater screen. Platt and Gordon take center stage for most of the film, giving good performances, but I wish we could see a bit more of the other teachers as they only give you a taste of some of these eccentric teachers. Another fav of mine is Jimmy Tatro because I enjoy him so much on the ABC sitcom Home Economics that I was pleased to see him in something else. Now the way he plays this character feels a bit similar to the sitcom one, but I still like him a lot. His scenes with Noah Galvin, who plays Glenn Winthrop, have some of the best laughs for me in the whole picture. Alan Kim, Luke Islam, and Bailee Bonick were the kid actors I connected with the most as their characters were super over time and reminded me a bit of peak early Glee. While I really liked Theater Camp, and I do think it’s worth seeing, it sometimes felt like an extended TV pilot and not something I think is needed to watch in a theater to enjoy.
Score: B
