So tonight we went and saw Todd Graff's Camp, a movie we eagerly awaited after seeing the previews for it while watching Spellbound. SPOILERS about CAMP are embedded, so if you are planning to see it, please do not read further.

So the film is sold and written about in the press as a depiction of this camp for misfits, gays and drag queens. So much of the hype revolves around the sheer queerness of the kids and their desire to dedicate their summer to a grueling schedule of musical theater. The cast, in proportion, is more diverse than most casts, and with a few exceptions, they seem to be playing close to their ages (unlike shows like 90210h, I'm really 36!, and Saved by the Bell).

If you are coming to see Camp for the music, you will not be disappointed. There are rousing renditions of songs from Fosse and Gospel at Colonnus and other shows. There is a buttkicking diva moment in "The Ladies Who Lunch." These folks can sing and totally have the musical theater thing down. Any stage would be lucky to have them.

No, the problem with this film is that it is so focused on the sexy-abbed straight guy amongst all the gay guys and drama girls that the movie really loses its way. Characters go undeveloped or underutilized, story lines are undernourished and many of them seem to just be serving to show that these kids were actually at the camp so you aren't surprised later when they show up in one of the numbers. The hetero boy thing is just irritating though. Finally, here comes a movie about the freaks, the queers, the effeminate, gay, Sondheim-worshipping fancy boys and the drama girls who love them and their own inner divas, and 75% of the movie follows the straight guy whose name is Vlad (even the name makes you think he is going to be throwing a spear).

I do not begrudge the actor, Daniel Letterle, or the character his storyline. His performance is solid and at times very strong (he has a wonderful voice) if not lacking due to the uber-predictable script. And yes, he is definitely pretty to look at. But his story could have been whittled down a bit so we can actually spend time with some of the other folks at the Camp who seem thrown in like pinches of this and that.

I just spent the whole time wondering if any of the gay guys were going to get a kiss or some screen time without the Vladinator near by. The talented drag queen Michael, played exceptionally well by Robin De Jesus with a light, loving touch, is constantly focused on the I-am-in-the-second-string-tour-of-Dawson's-Creek-the-Musical Vlad. A friendship is built, and Michael wants him, but we are left wondering why Michael didn't get at least a kiss or some attention from any of the 525,600 gay guys that were there.

A refreshingly out, campy, and just as attractive Spitzer (played by Vince Rimoldi) seems like an apt character to have a kiss or a little backstage action with Michael -- or any of the other dancer/actor/models who seem to populate the dance numbers. But there is nothing. Romance, even Precious Moments wide-eyed summer camp hand holding romance is reserved for the hetero, and therefore safe and sexy Vlad and his string of lady-friends.

I am not asking for Skinimax here people. But when you make a movie about musical theatre and summer camp, we expect that some of the gay guys are going to get some play. Instead, the Vladinator gets play all over the place and the gay men get Will Truman-ed out of the script.

The other great crime here is the total underutilization of Tiffany Taylor (Jenna) and Sasha Allen (Dee). These women can sing and Taylor's performance alone is worth seeing the film for. Yes, it is built on a "fat girl kicks her evil parents' ass for being such jerks" cliche, but who cares-- she is a star and delivers a number that will be hard to forget. Allen also has some throw away plot device scenes, but you get the feeling there is so much more there. I would have statyed another 15 minutes to see more of these two.

Queer bitterness and thin character lines aside, I liked this movie a lot. It has heart and I was never bored. The story is predictable and very after school special at times, but I wasn't going to see Schindler's List. The tone is consistent where the writing simply isn't.

Joanna Chilcoat, playing the supposedly homely Ellen (I thought she was beautiful), gives a sound and thorough performance throughout. She is an accessible performer and I appreciated her efforts. I think she has a huge career ahead of her as so many others in the cast.

So I do recommend that people see this film. The fun moments are fun and much of the humor is cute and the "oh no she didn't moments" are equally satisfying. Again, the musical theater numbers are first rate and well thought through.

Look out for Anna Kendrick (Fritzi) both on Broadway and on film. Her performance is intense and her number is perhaps the best musical theater moment in an otherwise unbalanced movie.

There are two words in the universe that would make a straight man want to see this movie; Anna Kendrick. In her autobiography "Scrappy Little Nobody" she originally thought the only people who would've bothered with this movie were closeted homosexuals who believe this movie helped them come out. But if you're not 100% homophobic, there could still be something in the movie you might find worthwhile.

Ahh, life before Camp Ovation; While the campers perform the song "How Shall I See You Through My Tears," we have a montage of some of the other campers before getting the chance to do so. We have Vlad Baumann rehearsing a speech in his mirror, Michael Flores going to the junior prom in drag, and not only having his invitation torn up by the prom committee, but getting the living crap kicked out of him by a bunch of jocks, and Ellen Lucas trying to convince her brother to take her to the junior prom after failing to get a date (although I can't imagine why). But going to this summer camp for the performing arts gives all these kids and more a chance to not only perform, but to be themselves,... or so it may seem that way. Kendrick plays Fritzi Wagner a would-be actress who also tries to be a toadie to the popular Jill Simmons (Alana Allen). Shaun (Steven Cutts) wants to convince his shy little brother Petie (Kahiry Bess) that he can make it as a black man in the performing arts. Another camper named Jenna (Tiffany Taylor) was able to talk her parents into letting her go to Camp Ovation as opposed to a fat camp, on the condition that she goes with her jaws wired shut.

At the first audition, we see Vlad perform a cover of "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones, with the camp background band playing to the very note, and one of the female counselors is convinced he's straight. Evidently the lesson is if you want to be viewed as straight, just perform an old Rolling Stones song during your audition. Even with that, he ends up striking a friendship with Michael. He doesn't insult the guy for being gay, but he does tell him that if he were straight he have girls hitting on him left and right, using his Latino heritage to pass himself off as a Latin Lover. Vlad himself seems to have his heart set on Ellen, and they seem like they're going to hit it off, until Jill swoops in and takes him away from her for a little nookie.

The camp is supposed to be supervised by Bert Hanley, a playwright who had a big hit named "The Children's Crusade," back in the day, and hasn't been able to do anything else but drink ever since. Other counselors include a dance instructor who makes a speech during one of his lessons which is reminiscent of Debbie Allen's speech in Fame, which one of the kids snarks about until that teacher makes him eat his words, and a Cuban refugee director who evidently feared that the avant-garde play "Midnight Sun" would cause reprisals from their "Revolutionary Armed Forces." His maniacal tirades are one of the things that bring Vlad and Ellen closer to one another, and so are Jill's insults over her appearance. But how long can that last?

After Jill chastises Fritzi for washing her underwear, she gets a pep talk from Bert, then sabotages her performance from "Company," by spiking her drinks with a well-known household cleaner. She yanks Jill off-stage in the middle of singing "The Ladies Who Lunch" and makes that song her own! You will forget Elaine Stritch after this, in fact, you'll forget Alana Allen after this! Later when Bert hears Vlad casually perform one of his songs, he interrupts him and the rest of the campers and tells them they're wasting their time trying to make it in show business. After he leaves the porch, Vlad goes into the counselor's office and chastises him for trashing the campers. "They"? Did you think I wasn't talking to you too?" No Mr. Hanley, I think he knew it. But it's after this exchange while the camp administrator is passed out drunk that this golden boy he despises discovers some of his other work, and he rallies the other campers to perform some of it, in order to prove that they and he are both worthy.

The highlight of this movie was Kendrick's show stopping performance of "The Ladies Who Lunch," which she literally steals from Alana Allan. At a close second is the cast's cover of "Century Plant" by Victoria Williams. Others might disagree with me and put Williams' song at the top, and it's hard not to imagine why.

If you grew up in the New York Tri-State area like I did, you've seen as many ads on TV and in newspapers for Broadway plays as you have for movies. So, whether you're straight, gay, or bisexual, you'd be exposed to some of the references to the various plays here. There are some truly funny scenes during the movie. During the auditions, one of the counselors draws a picture of himself committing suicide next to a piano while another anonymous girl sings "Tomorrow" from "Annie." Another is when Ellen is with Petie with her own rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from "Dreamgirls," and the boy gets spooked and runs off stage. Even Todd Graff, who wrote and directed this movie found the scenario hilarious.

Those who see this movie for Ms. Kendrick should know that it's really not her movie. In fact her part is barely a B-Story, despite her outstanding musical number. The movie itself is based on Graff's own life at a camp known as Stagedoor Manor while he was on a break from his membership in the Short Circus on "The Electric Company." Because of this, it makes me wonder if the gay kids could've been that openly gay in the 1970's. I even thought of making the title of my review "This Movie is So Gay." Regardless, the musical performances are what makes this movie great even if you don't like the story lines. I think there's still a good chance that you will.

I had heard the soundtrack to Camp before I actually go to see the film, and yet I still didn't really know what to expect. Camp was a simple film, tackling complex subjects in a perfectly flawed manner. Nothing that I can say here will do this film justice. It is, quite simply, the best film I've seen this year.