Happy Campers (2001)

Too much of everything

People are voting emotionally.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Where's Jason Voorhees when we need him for these extremely un-Happy Campers? I haven't seen such a sloppy, random, uneven, incoherent, pointless and down-right sad movie than the inaccurately titled Happy Campers in a long time. Barely did I laugh in this "comedy," barely could I root for a single lost soul, barely did this rise above the solid one star (out of five) it deserves – and that's due to the actors playing counselors at least attempted to make something of the horrid direction they were given by Waters.And how the mighty had fallen; Waters wrote Heathers, probably his only great movie. Heathers, which would have a hard time being released as is today – with all the school shootings, killings since – was at least original, fun, dark and a very well made movie. Happy Campers is an all over the place mesh of random scenes and tiny skits/bad ideas just horribly spliced together.It's hard to write a synopsis due to the wandering of the script, but I'll try: punk counselors of all stereotypes await for the kids to arrive for a very long summer camp in the opening, while making fun of the manual – ding, ding plot point! – and when the unfortunate kids are dropped off, "comedy" ensures with the one and only adult (yeah, right) starts barking out commands.From there is hard to describe what I just watched. Let's see, one counselor likes another, but he's after another. One's gay and just loves to tell people and gets upset when others don't embrace him. One's just weird and another is good/bad/good with no real explanation. Oh, and then there's kids running amuck – duh, this is what happens when one adult's in charge and the rest of the group is as loony as the people who used to run Night Court. Even when the single adult is taken out of the picture for a really dumb accident, he had just about equal control as when he wasn't comatoast.There is zero point to this movie, unless you like the late Renfro – which I do and that's why I watched it. But even his minimal attempts couldn't save this movie. SKIP CAMP.

OK, I admit I only bought this movie because I have a tiny crush on Justin Long... but in nearly every aspect this is a great film. So much character development without giving away too much of everyone's past. I think I remember every single one of the counselors and camp-goers from when I went to summer camp.I remember the geek counselor who couldn't get any respect, the director who could have been a drill sergeant (in spite of my never having been in the military), and all the kids with the strange "Don't touch me" quirks. I even remember the gay counselor, which brings me to my only qualm about the movie: Who cast the cook???There is no way that a handsome 20-something gay guy who has the nerve to make a bet with the hottest guy in camp in order to go down on him would have gone for a "romantic picnic" with that cook just because he's the only other gay guy there. I am well aware that it was to emphasize the effect of all the counselors going their separate ways, but seriously... give me a break here!

Okay...not moved in the, "Oh my god, I'm about to cry!" sense, but, it was touching. I thought that the movie was an all-around worthwhile production and well worth the $1 that I spent to rent it. It's about more than just sex. (It has to be! If it were just sex, than this movie could've been a whole lot raunchier. Honestly, that's the one thing that disappointed me.) It's about people, and feelings, and relationships, and growing up, and all that other cheesy stuff. The end sums it up, and it even makes reference to itself being cheesy. This movie shows that people have depth. All of the characters have depth. Complications...and those complications are well explored. I think that some people can miss the point when watching this movie. If you're one of those people, try watching it again. It's defiently worth it.

Although the movie was in a way a bit different from what I had imagined. One person caught my attention in this film. Besides Brad Renfro, who I will always remember as being little Mark Sway in "The Client". He sure has grown up though. But, I'm talking about Keram Malicki-Sánchez (who portrayed Jasper in the film) - will be in my book as a one to watch. He seems to be a very talented person. I will have to do more research on him. But, I hope to see more of him in the future. He's quite attractive too!