Sunday, September 1, 2013

CAMP (Movie Review)

*Disclosure- I received a screener of Camp from Edify media in order to put together this review. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.
 
About the movie:

Eli's life is a nightmare. His mother is a drug addict who neglects his care, and his transient father floats in and out of his life. Eli is filled with rage from the physical abuse he has received from his father but he longs for his love and approval. On his 10th birthday Eli is taken to the hospital by police who respond to a domestic disturbance call. Eli is removed from his home and is placed in Locustwood, a facility little better than a youth prison. In this environment Eli spirals downward, becoming an angry and scared creature.

Meanwhile, to impress a potential new client, investment adviser Ken Matthews signs up to be a camp counselor and gets paired with Eli. When the kids arrive at camp, the chaos begins. Ken and Eli bunk in a cabin with counselor Samuel, back from his second tour of duty in the army, and Redford, a kid who thinks he is an alien. Determined to hate camp, Eli is way more than Ken can handle.
Over the course of camp, Ken’s heart is broken as he learns about Eli's dark past. Eli slowly opens up to Ken as he starts to love Eli unconditionally. Eli begins to have hope.

An unauthorized visit from Eli’s father to camp sends everything spiraling out of control. Now Ken must decide what he is willing to sacrifice so Eli will understand the meaning of unconditional love.


My thoughts:

I knew when I read the plot description to this movie that it would be an emotional watch. The beginning scenes of Eli with both his mom and dad are heart wrenching, but necessary to understand the hardness that he has about him when he shows up at camp. The are also scenes of Ken Matthews, trying to further his business financially, signs up to be a counselor at this camp not knowing what he is getting himself into. At the beginning of camp, I can't stand Ken at all, it's like he has no understanding at all of how to deal with children let alone a child who has been severely abused and neglected. Eli is mean and angry and I can understand why that would be difficult not knowing his entire back story, so I try to have an open mind about Ken. At first, he seems to have a hard time relating to Eli at all, but as the movie continues on, you can tell that Ken's being at camp out of obligation to business slowly turns into him really caring about Eli and wanting to get him to like camp and have a good time while there. By the end of the movie I think Ken has learned more than Eli at camp. I don't want to ruin the end to the movie, but I will say I thought it was wonderful and it was nice to have a happy ending after many tears throughout the movie (on my part) feeling sad or angry for certain characters, especially the kids at camp. This movie is inspired by the work of Royal Family KIDS, an organization that aims to give abused and neglected kids the opportunity for a week of positive experiences and encouragement and unconditional love from caring adults. in their local communities. I think anyone who has a heart for children will enjoy this movie and may even be inspired to get involved with Royal Family Kids. For more information on this organization see the Royal Family KIDS website.


CAMP is now available on Blu-RAY and DVD

CAMP movie Website

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Watch a preview for Camp below:

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