I watched this movie last night and I don't know what to make of it. Since I had been a summer counselor at one point I thought it would be fun to watch, especially since it is rare that a summer-camp movie be aimed at college-age students instead of grade-schoolers. This movie is rated R and I feel this is a suitable rating for the film. While none of the scenes were too sexual, there were still sexual implications and sensitive subjects, and nudity. The counselors were all very likeable and it would've been nice to get to know them a little better. I feel their characters were all underdeveloped and the only ones we even begin to understand are Dominique Swain's and Brad Renfro's characters, which still left me confused at the end.

The setting was beautiful and totally believable that it was a camp. When the camp director gets struck by lightening, the counselors don't call for help or anything. We see him getting spoon-fed once and then he disappears for most of the movie and at the end we see him wandering around the woods. This aspect bothered me because no one would do that to someone, especially perfect-counselor Dominique Swain. I would rather they have sent him to the hospital and he just never came back, or anything else but what happened.

The movie jumped around a bit and you had to piece it together yourself. The transitions between scenes were horrible so while you're in the middle of watching something you're also trying to figure out how they got where they are. I'm not saying the content was bad, just the way it was put together. This can be overseen and the movie can still be enjoyable. For example, everyone is trapped in the cafeteria during a hurricane and then suddenly they are in their bunk cabins. It took me a few minutes to realize that the hurricane was over. I was surprised that they left it so confusing.

One of the main topics is sex. Some of the counselors have crushes on each other, and you end up wanting Swain and Renfro to be together, but the lack of development of their relationship or even their individual characters makes it hard to feel connected with either of them. The sex scenes lack passion and there is no build-up to them, so it seems like it is not a big deal. The character that James King plays remained mysterious to me throughout the whole movie because they basically only show her from the point of view of everyone else even though the movie is about the counselors, and she is one of them. We never even find out if she is attracted to guys or girls, which both are hinted at throughout the movie.

Some of the campers have interesting characters but they are underdeveloped as well. The movie leaves you knowing that something deep happened but the inability to truly connect with anyone in the movie makes you feel like you missed something, even though you didn't. Emily Bergl played a quiet, sortof-loser just like she did in The Rage: Carrie 2. This bothered me because I had that movie in mind when I saw her, and we never find out anything about her character to make me form a different view of her. The only thing we find out is that she had a crush on Renfro, and he doesn't like her back. I wanted to feel bad for her, but it's hard to feel bad for someone you know nothing about. This movie had potential. The cinematography was great and the location it was shot at was great. The cast had the potential as well, but since we leave knowing almost nothing more than we knew about them at the beginning, it's an easy movie to forget about. Too many topics were covered and they were all covered on the surface only.

Usually when you watch a movie you find one character that you can relate to (at least a little) and actually feel for them as you watch the movie. I was still trying to figure out who I related to when it ended. And the fact that the movie didn't end on a happy note was unsatisfying for me. It didn't leave on a bad note, but nothing felt resolved. I couldn't even figure out if the two counselors had broken up or not. I guess it's worth a watch but only knowing that it doesn't go anywhere and that the deep issues you want to learn more about just don't go anywhere. There were a few funny parts, but overall this movie was dark.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age