Movie Review: Summer Camp (2024)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Castille Landon  

Starring: Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates, Alfre Woodard, Eugene Levy, Beverly D'Angelo  

Running Time: 92 minutes  

Synopsis: Tweens Nora, Ginny, and Mary meet at a summer camp, and forge a friendship that strengthens over the years. But 50 years later, they have drifted apart. Ginny (Kathy Bates) is a famous self-help guru, Nora (Diane Keaton) runs a medical research business, and Mary (Alfre Woodard) is a nurse. Ginny is the wealthiest, and insists that the three friends meet again at a week-long summer camp reunion.

What Works Well: The running time is mercifully short.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is as bland and predictable as comedy can get. The blame resides within a witless episodic script incapable of creating any coherent rhythms, instead fumbling around for cheap laughs that never arrive. Archery mis-haps, an error-prone errand boy, an intellectually challenged militaristic assistant manager, hapless attempts at romance (including with Eugene Levy), complaints about no access to cell phones, and - wait for it - a food fight, are sorry examples of failed humour. All this of course leads to cringey revelations about letting go of bad habits and becoming better women.

Key Quote:

Ginny: Can't you just spend time with us?

Nora: And do what?

Ginny: Just be present with us.

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