I loved this film as a kid and it's a great starring vehicle for Bill Murray who is always ideal as an anti-authoritarian figure rebelling. It doesn't age entirely well, such as Murray manhandling his female love interest. I had trouble telling the Canadian support cast apart with some exceptions such as Kristine de Bell.
I think it resonated in part because of the whole kids at camp thing - romance amongst the counsellors, and the struggles of Chris Makepeace to fit in and make friends. Makepeace's relationship with Murray is well done pat the dog. (Apparently the Murray-Makepeace two handers were shot in post production to give the film more heart and they work a treat.)
There's a nice sense of camraderie - you sense the counsellors and kids are like one big dysfunctional yet loving family. I enjoyed how Murray's "It just doesn't matter" speech felt like a comedy impro bit at Second City. The girls are allowed to play more than they were in a typical 80s comedy and its sentimentality indicates what Animal House would've been like had Ivan Reitman directed that instead of John Landis.
I remembered all the songs. Like, all of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment