Camp Rock is the latest in a recent series of movie musicals, and this one features the Jonas Brothers in a starring role, as well as newcomer Demi Lovato. The Disney Channel-original film is good-natured, family-oriented and fun, despite being as predictable as car insurance.
Lovato stars in the film as Mitchie, a blue-collar girl who loves music and wants to attend the pricey, exclusive music-oriented summer camp, Camp Rock, to further develop her talents. Although her parents cannot afford to pay her way, her mother decides to take a break from her catering business to become the camp’s cook, in exchange for a tuition waiver for her daughter.
As is typical of movie teens, Mitchie is embarrassed by her own blue collar origins and, to camouflage them, invents a story about her mother being a talent scout for a record label. This fib initially draws the admiration and attention of the super-competitive camp diva, Tess Tyler, who recruits Mitchie into her group. Turns out Tess likes to recruit the most talented girls into her group, where she is the featured star, so that she can’t be outshone by anyone.
Meanwhile, a self-indulgent rock star, himself a Camp Rock graduate (Joe Jonas), is sent by his bandmates back to Camp Rock as an instructor, as a lesson in humility and “finding himself.” While pouting around the camp, he hears Mitchie singing but does not see the person attached to the voice, and so in Cinderella fashion spends much of the movie trying to match the voice he heard to the girls he encounters.
Of course, many girls want to be the one Shane is looking for and try to impress him with their voices, but none of them seem right to him. Mitchie is aware of his quest but, unaware he heard her singing, doesn’t believe it’s her he’s looking for.
As is the case in any Disney movies in which deception is involved, the truth about Mitchie’s blue-collar roots eventually comes out and humiliates her, and she must struggle to come to terms with self-acceptance. Many of the numbers in the film are catchy, but ultimately forgettable, teen pop tunes, and Camp Rock suffers from the same contrivances of other live action movie musicals of late: namely, that in a scene that involves one person strumming on a guitar and singing to another, mysteriously the song that is performed includes a full band arrangement and backup singers.
While this may make the songs more commercial and appealing, it draws the viewer out of the story and the cinematic moment and makes you wonder, “where the hell are the backup singers, drummer, keyboardist and bass guitarist? This is just supposed to be Shane singing to Mitchie.
The other problem with the musical concept as conceived here is that, much like American Mall or the High School Musical series of films, all the singers have their voices highly filtered as they sing; while such a production value might cover over some of the weaker voices in the cast, it again doesn’t seem like something that ought to be occurring “in the moment” in which the movie is taking place.
There is a scant selection of Blu-Ray extras on display, but only very few and nothing that stands out as particularly of interest. As a result, they add little to the appeal of the Blu-Ray package. The movie is OK, but it will certainly leave older viewers pining for the good old days of Singin’ In the Rain, The Sound of Music and, perhaps, even Grease.
Tags: Camp Rock, car insurance, Demi Lovato, Jonas Brothers
