Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

aimless-46 "Happy Campers" is a useful movie only because it prompts basic questions about its writer/director Daniel Waters and his breakout film "Heathers" (which he wrote but did not direct). Did he use up all his good stuff writing the Heathers screenplay and have nothing left for "Happy Campers? Did he lose most of his active brain cells shortly after making Heathers (an event that would account for both the 'Hudson Hawk"and the "Happy Campers" screenplays)? Was Heathers just a happy accident? Or is Heathers so open-ended that critics and viewers attributed significance to a very ordinary movie. All these explanations are possible either jointly or collectively.For "Happy Campers" Waters tries to weave "Breakfast Club" themes into a "Meatballs" story. So you get tedious voice-over suggestions about how the artificial bounds of the high school hierarchy can sometimes be bridged by spending a couple months together as summer camp counselors. Like each detention server in "The Breakfast Club", each counselor is an easily identified stereotype. And over the course of camp each is supposed to go through changes, at least that appears to be the premise.Unfortunately the script has difficulty communicating this process despite an unprecedented amount of voice-over narration. All seven of the main characters get some voice-over time, a device that is very confusing and pretty much destroys any possibility of the movie having any unified theme.Dominique Swain has the biggest part as Wendy, the terminally peppy cheerleader type (appropriately pictured in a cheerleader outfit on the DVD). Swain is the only good thing about the movie, it is an over-the-top caricature that plays to her acting strengths. This is the type of role Swain should be playing, one that requires self-parody rather than subtlety. She also benefits by relative comparsion to James (Jaime) King-whose acting skills are in the Kathy Ireland mold, as well as from being paired with the physically miscast Brad Renfro-who manages to drain all energy from each scene in which he appears. The other four counselors have a fair about of screen time and some lame misadventures but nothing particularly memorable.Some effort is made to introduce the actual summer campers to the story but none of it even remotely works. "Meatballs" was able to get away with shallow character development because it was basically just a Bill Murray vehicle. Although Swain might have been able to carry the whole thing like Murray the script does not allow this and things never really get going in "Happy Campers".Waters apparently believed that audiences would react positively to a movie where 90% of the comedy involved sexual references that most preteens would consider moronic. Hey Daniel, did you pay someone to write that Heathers" screenplay for you.

phoenix_elixir Happy Campers has to be in my top ten and probably right at the top! I don't know what it is, but it really is one of life's good movies. To me anyway, to everyone else its utter nonsense! It has even inspired me to fly to America when I'm old enough and be a camp counselor!! I love the soundtrack, and if anyone knows how I can get hold of the song titles on the movie, (so far I've failed!) please email me a website or song titles and artists; anything would help!!! Wichita & Wendy: their flourishing romance, Pixel's floopiness and hot fashion, all the counsellors and their completely opposite personalities and backgrounds...and of course all the happy campers. Each scene brings out a new idea, a new perspective that leads to the end result. And listen to what they say - its so true. Their philosophy and story telling is blissfully blunt and simple. I Anyway, 10/10!!! See it!!! And if you have, watch it again!!! God knows I have!!!

Joey_Mac Well, I was quite surprised when I saw that this little-known (or less than that) film only recieved a rating of 5 out of 10. The minute this movie was over, I hopped onto Amazon.com and ordered a copy for myself. I didn't even return it to the video store until my own copy came. I have never been this pleasantly surprised with a movie. The film starts off seemingly as just another teen movie where stereotypes and cliches abound. The humor even seems a little slapstick at first, not really my kind of humor. But once this film gets going, it doesn't let up. It takes you in and makes you look at things differently. Some of the quotes from this movie are the most touching and profound lines I've heard from a film since "The Breakfast Club" (still, my all-time FAVORITE movie), such as "When it comes to the ritual of growing up, sometimes you smile because you're happy. Other times, you smile just because you've survived. But hey, a smile is a smile." Those lines show that this movie goes deeper than just another teen flick and in the end, you have a feel-good feeling that stays with you for a while. I think that those of you who have viewed this film and gave it less than a seven need to view it again. But this time, look closer. . .let it take you in the way a good film should.

tarzapam I was mildly looking forward to seeing this movie because i think Brad Renfro is great,but i was sadly disapointed with it. It had a couple of funny moments but that was it. It ended up getting very black and i think it would of worked much better if it had taken a lighter approach. Also there were unneccessary 'Lesbian' scenes, which looked like they were put there to fill plot holes, it didn't work