9 Great Movies About Summer Camp

2. Indian Summer

http://youtu.be/NVbuYlKa29E Although this does not hold my number one spot, it is perhaps the most personal camp movie because it is the most emotionally accurate. This is one of those movies that many people did not see, but those who did see it have a well deserved cult-like appreciation for it. Essentially, it is the Big Chill of camp movies. A select group of former campers return to their camp where they reconnect, regress, and ultimately save it. The movie isn't exactly what you would call plot driven, but we as viewers are more interested in hearing another story about when they were kids or how they got to where they are today. The plot of the movie is not serviced by the character arcs but rater the journeys of the characters are strong enough to support the movie in places where the plot does not appear to be present. They characters rediscover parts of themselves that they lost while also realizing that they are no longer kids and thus cannot behave like they are. This is summed up perfectly after Kevin Pollack's character constantly states that he remembers everything being smaller and finally Elizabeth Perkins' character exclaims that things didn't get smaller, they just grew up. In addition to the near perfect tone of the movie, there are details the elevate it throughout. Camp is about a feeling, or rather an intensity level to feelings that we had yet to experience. The inclusion of subtle touches such as the embarrassment of our first erection or regret about decisions due to race are what make Indian Summer stand apart. These feelings are heightened by sitting around telling stories, pulling pranks, and fierce competition with your best friends. You can almost smell the woods and feel the lake just through the almost tangible love that shines through the performances. With Indian Summer you feel this as soon as they enter camp, which is pretty remarkable given that this attachment is created within seconds of the opening credits. That and it has an awesome acting cameo by Spider-man and Evil Dead director Sam Raimi.