“Who Would Think That Something Like That Would Happen from Harmless Flares and Roman Candles?”
I don’t remember hearing of Camp Nowhere until it came up for the first time on Pod Meets World. Since they decided to recap it in more detail recently, I gave it a watch. I think if I’d seen it when I was younger, I would have enjoyed it more, but it was still certainly fun.
Summer is coming, and Morris “Mud” Himmel (Jonathan Jackson) is facing the prospect of computer camp. Again. He really doesn’t want to go, he just wants to have fun with his friends. Friends who are also being sent off to various camps. As the four of them are talking, they find the perfect solution – find a way to get their parents to send them to fake camps so they can spend the summer doing whatever they want. Enter Dennis Van Welker (Christopher Lloyd), an actor who could use a chance to get out of town and some money.
Just as the four friends think they’ve pulled it off, the word gets out, and they have to include more kids from their middle school. With the larger group, will they be able to keep their secret all summer? Or will the locals figure out what is going on?
Let’s be honest, this movie isn’t terribly original. You can pretty much guess where things are going early on. Yeah, a sub-plot or two might surprise you when they are introduced, but the overall story goes places you’d expect them to go. And that’s okay as long as you are having fun.
And this movie is fun. As I said earlier, I think it would be more fun if I had seen this as a kid and could get into the fantasy, but I still enjoyed it as an adult. It helps that there are plenty of great lines and funny situations for us to enjoy.
It also helps that the four kids who lead the story are well developed. Again, nothing crazy original, but we really do like them. Props for this goes to the actors, Jonathan Jackson, Andrew Keegan, Marnette Patterson, and Melody Kay. The other kids aren’t as well developed. I’m not blaming any of the actors for that, it’s the script that doesn’t give them as much to work with. After all, the supporting kids include Hillary Tuck, Allison Mack, and Jessica Alba.
Let’s take a minute to appreciate the performance of Christopher Lloyd. He takes a part that could have been over the top and keeps it grounded. He easily switches from the out there sequences to the more serious moments without missing a beat. He isn’t the only adult I recognized in the cast. We’ve also got Burgess Meredith, Kate Mulgrew, Peter Scolari, Tom Wilson, and Jonathan Frakes in an uncredited cameo.
Considering places they could have gone with this film (a bunch of unsupervised young teens), they keep it very tame. I appreciated that, although I did feel bothered by some of the things that they did, specifically the scene where they tried to buy beer. Most of these were very brief scenes, but parents should be aware of them. Additionally, the ending needed some consequences to it.
As much fun as I was having, there were moments I felt like the plot either glossed over something or there was a small plot hole. Most of those were at the end of the film. And they are minor overall.
Is Camp Nowhere a classic that I will be watching again soon? No. But is it a fun movie I’m glad I took the time to watch? Yes, it is. If you are looking for a light movie to watch this summer, you’ll be glad you sat down to watch it.
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