Some critics have been raving to the high heavens about this film. It's about a bunch of misfits who go to a summer camp which teaches dancing, singing and acting. As the summer progresses they all bond and become stronger....sigh. This has been done hundreds of times before and this movie adds nothing to the old formula.
The plots are very trite and predictable. There was one at the end (about the alcoholic teacher who "finds" himself) that was so old that I couldn't believe I was seeing it in a 2003 film. Also characters appear and disappear with no warning (who WAS that handsome Latino boy who was buddy buddy with Michael in one scene) and some of the performances were either overdone (some of the gay boys were doing everything but lisping) or pretty bad (Daniel Letterle is VERY handsome--but he can't act and he grins way too much).
So why am I giving it a 7? There is some good acting (Joanna Chilcoat and Robin de Jesus are standouts) and the musical numbers. These kids can REALLY belt out songs and the dancing is incredible. Those musical numbers alone make the film worth seeing. But director Graff really doesn't know how to shoot some numbers--some of the quick cuts in one number were really annoying.
So--it's worth seeing for the dancing and singing...not for the cliched story and some lousy acting.
The plots are very trite and predictable. There was one at the end (about the alcoholic teacher who "finds" himself) that was so old that I couldn't believe I was seeing it in a 2003 film. Also characters appear and disappear with no warning (who WAS that handsome Latino boy who was buddy buddy with Michael in one scene) and some of the performances were either overdone (some of the gay boys were doing everything but lisping) or pretty bad (Daniel Letterle is VERY handsome--but he can't act and he grins way too much).
So why am I giving it a 7? There is some good acting (Joanna Chilcoat and Robin de Jesus are standouts) and the musical numbers. These kids can REALLY belt out songs and the dancing is incredible. Those musical numbers alone make the film worth seeing. But director Graff really doesn't know how to shoot some numbers--some of the quick cuts in one number were really annoying.
So--it's worth seeing for the dancing and singing...not for the cliched story and some lousy acting.