Family Camp
★ ★
I tend to stay away from the faith film genre. A lot of the reasons may be unjustified because they are personal to me whether this film exists or not. My family really wanted an outing to the theater and because this film was shot in our home state of Oklahoma, we decided to go.
On the surface, Family Camp will be an overall positive experience for a family watch, especially if you are one that likes your content to be safe. I grew up in a Southern Baptist church and I lived in a world where the Christian market was constantly trying to piggyback off what was popular in the "secular" world. The attempts to make entertainment that was pure often came off as unoriginal and poorly made. This is the first feature film from The Skit Guys, a Christian comedy duo, and I have to give them and their team some props for making a very professionally looking movie that is original. My major qualm with the movie is that the overarching premise is to show why a family needs to support one another, but it's very much told from a male perspective with the father figure always being the hero. Not just being the hero, but putting emphasis on the fact that if the father isn't the hero, the family will ultimately fail. This results in very cardboard characters of the wife and especially the kids. My kiddos didn't seem to be bugged by the fact that this movie was essentially about two middle-aged men working out their personal issues, but if you are going to take that route, you got to be willing to not mislead the audience.
The dynamics between Tommy (Tommy Woodard) and Eddie (Eddie Sanders) are clearly supposed to invoke Odd Couple vibes. Woodard actually is the standout of the movie and does an excellent job of playing the straight man. It's Sanders who is relentless with his annoying habits. He is trying to be the next Del Griffith, but his antics come with no heart and I had no sympathy for his character by the end. Its script has no focus, and sadly, most people will like it, just because it is "clean." I was duped by this entire premise. Maybe if I went in expecting what it was, I wouldn't be quite as harsh.
