Review of Happy Campers (2001) by Chucho E. Q — 21 Jan 2008

Every once in a while, there comes a movie that tries to reivindicate a genre that's considered lost into clichés and bad movies after bad movies. One of the genres where this happens the most is in the so-called "teen movies".

For every single "American Pie" there's a "Thirteen", for every single "Road trip" there's a "Brick", an "Elephant", a "Duck season", a "Mean creek".

.. one of the always awful subgenres of "teen movies" is the disgusting, almost unbearable world of "summer camp movies"... the number of movies that take place in these hell-holes (by the look of all of those movies) is extreme and keeps growing each year but it was in the 90s when it was just unstoppable.

It was like a really stupid campaign to get even more kids into these camps, from "Heavy Weights" to "Parent trap" and all the slasher movies, it was just about time to cry out loud: ENOUGH! and so the 90s ended, youth was now into violence and teenagers killing other teenagers and sex.

.. way more sex. Then, in 2002, it was turn for a visit to an old friend: the freakin summer camp. The cast of "Happy Campers" was unbelievable (as my face could've tell when I found the movie on TV): Brad Renfro in his good years, Peter Stormare and newcomers-back-in-the-day Jamie King and Justin Long.

.. I mean, what the hell? Right? And so the movie began. One extremely raw surprise after another, one good turn after another, one hell-of-a-great performance after another. Daniel Waters, the director, doesn't fear clichés, he uses them to not only make fun of a walking cliché (summer camp) and a terrible bunch of movies that came with that subject: he embraces the clichés of the genre to create something unique, something raw and unexpected.

.. something trully ORIGINAL. Sex, sex and more sex, but not only between horny teenagers but the first approaching of a bunch of KIDS to sexuality without censorship of stupid morality but truth and intelligence.

"Happy campers" also speaks about LIFE and what sucks about it with such an excellent narrative and a flawless dialogue after another. The plot is carried by the characters which results into a fast-paced, yet careful movie-experience.

It is, then, the ultimate summer-camp movie, as it is the ONLY intelligent, truthful summer-camp movie because it doesn't want to show you "how summer camp really is" but how kids and teenagers-becoming-adults really are.

It's probably one of the few movies I've ever seen to really capture every single doubt, desire, dream and crazyness in a 10-y-o mind or a 18-y-o heart... Really, really, trully underrated. Brad Renfro's best after "Bully".

.. Justin Long's best after "Galaxy Quest"... and Jamie King's best BY WAAAY TO FAR! What ever happened to Dominique Swain, btw?? And Peter Stormare... well... I'll stick to "Fargo" and "Constantine" for now.

..