Theater Camp
A lot of young talent bolsters an uneven mockumentary set in a failing camp for the performing arts.
Chekhov for children: Molly Gordon and Ben Platt
Making documentaries can be a tricky business. The subject of Theater Camp is one Joan Rubinsky, a doughty stage stalwart who runs a theatre camp for unconventional children in upstate New York. It’s a sanctuary where everybody is free to be themselves in a natural setting. Joan’s flair is “knowing how to turn cardboard into gold” but, on the second day of shooting, she slips into a coma. Yet, in the tradition of “the show must go on,” the filmmakers decide to cover the summer season without her, focusing instead on the eccentric staff and their assorted charges. Few employees come more eccentric than Joan’s son Troy (Jimmy Tatro), who is the Jack Black figure in a sort of theatrical version of School of Rock. But unlike Black’s Dewey Finn, he is unable to connect with the children and is even more hopeless in fending off the bank that is threatening foreclosure…
Dedicated ‘To All Our Drama Teachers’, Theater Camp is about as niche as they come. While obviously set in the present, the mood is strictly retrospective as the film is designed as a mockumentary, mocking documentaries that used to look like home movies. And so we have the awkward zooms, the clumsy camera moves and inelegant cutaways, unlike most documentaries these days which are much slicker and more sophisticated. However, there is talent to burn and the younger cast members highlight the enormous talent out there, regardless of race, size or age.
Less successful are the adult performers, who always seem to be waiting for a laugh to any given punchline. Adapted from the 2020 short of the same name, the film is a ramshackle, hit-or-miss affair directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, both of whom contributed to the script. Molly Gordon herself plays Rebecca-Diane, a performer/singer with less talent than her students and noted for her absenteeism. Co-writer Ben Platt (an actor in the Rafe Spall mould) plays Amos Klobuchar, who wears his passion and dedication on his sleeve and provides much of the dramataic focus. There are some telling moments, such as when a young performer complains that he is unable to play a father, because he isn’t one. “Did Julianne Moore really have dementia?” snaps Amos, an allusion which clearly goes over the boy’s head. Much of Theater Camp will fly over the heads of many audience members, too, as will Rebecca-Diane’s remark, “do you want to be the Lance Armstrong of theatre?” in response to a girl deploying a ‘tear stick’ to enhance her emotional moment. Obviously, these drama teachers are idealistic to a fault, although their precocious students reveal more talent than they can but dream of. The young stars really rescue the film, although they cannot elevate it to the same standing of Todd Graff’s funny and poignant Camp (2003), which was also set at a summer camp for the performing arts in New York, and was brilliant.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Nathan Lee Graham, Ayo Edebiri, Owen Thiele, Caroline Aaron, Amy Sedaris, Bailee Bonick, Kyndra Sanchez, Donovan Colan, Vivienne Sachs, Alan Kim, Alexander Bello, Luke Islam, Jack Sobolewski, Quinn Titcomb, Dean Scott Vazquez, Priscilla Lopez, David Rasche.
Dir Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, Pro Erik Feig, Samie Kim Falvey, Julia Hammer, Ryan Heller, Maria Zuckerman, Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell, Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman and Ben Platt, Screenplay Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman and Ben Platt, Ph Nate Hurtsellers, Pro Des Jordan Janota and Charlotte Royer, Ed Jon Philpot, Music James McAlister and Mark Sonnenblick, Costumes Michelle Li, Sound Jonathan Fuhrer, Choreography Maud Arnold.
Picturestart/Topic Studios/Gloria Sanchez Productions-Searchlight Pictures/Walt Disney Studios.
92 mins. USA. 2023. US Rel: 14 July 2023. UK Rel: 25 August 2023. Cert. 12A.
