Summercamp! (2007)

Critic Reviews

• Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

  Brief bits of real charm, personality and camp-life detail squeeze through, suggesting why some thrive in an oasis of animal worship, outdoor revelry and zero-to-hero popularity that forgives a nerdy rep back home.

• Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times

  Unlike the intense cadets for Christ and creationism in the recent documentary Jesus Camp, the kids in the sweet Summercamp! have fun!

• Ty Burr, Boston Globe

  It observes the specific until the specific turns universal, and the universal until you find yourself moved beyond words.

• Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

  A film only a mother could love.

• V.A. Musetto, New York Post

  A sweeter, more unassuming movie isn't likely to come our way anytime soon.

• Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com

  Of all the films, fictional or non-, that set out to capture the terrors and wonders of childhood and adolescence, and the treacherous borderline between them, I've hardly seen any that affected me this deeply.

• Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  For those who enjoyed the camping experience as a youth, the movie, with its marshmallow roasts, canoe rides and talent shows, offers a bit of nostalgia. Others may find the whole thing a little pointless.

• Paul West, Seattle Times

  Summercamp! maintains a gentle, lackadaisical tone that eloquently captures the triumphs and traumas of this ageless ritual.

• Kevin Courrier, Boxoffice Magazine

  Summercamp is so haphazard it might as well be someone's digitally enhanced home movie.

• Matt Pais, Metromix.com

  Sweet and alive with homesickness and high-fives, sing-a-longs and armpit farts.

• Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters

  For all the conventional, nostalgic images in Summercamp!, there are more you may not have seen before.

• Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star

  I guess as a film concept it's more engaging than MVD Visit! or Grocery Shopping! but not by much.

• Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  Poignant and perceptive.

• Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide

  The film is great fun, and the perfectly summer-sun baked soundtrack comes largely courtesy of Beesley's good pals, the Flaming Lips.

• Jane Borden, Time Out New York

  With tenderness and joy, Bradley Beesley and Sarah Price capture the precious moments of preteen freedom -- not from parents and school, but from self-awareness and doubt.

Read all 15 critic reviews