"Camp" (the movie) review and giveaway

9/25/2013

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    I've watched and reviewed quite a few Christian, family-friendly films over the last few years.

    Some of them have great plots, but not such great acting.

    Or some have had decent acting, but the music and cinematography isn't quite right.

    Camp gave my family everything we look for in a movie: inspiration, tears, laughter, and art!

The Story:

     Eli's life is a nightmare. His mother is a drug addict who neglects his care, and his transient father floats in and out of his life. Eli is filled with rage from the physical abuse he has received from his father, but he longs for his love and approval. On his 10th birthday, Eli is taken to the hospital by police who respond to a domestic disturbance call. Eli is removed from his home and is placed in Locustwood, a facility little better than a youth prison. In this environment, Eli spirals downward, becoming an angry and scared creature.

    Meanwhile, to impress a potential new client, investment advisor Ken Matthews signs up to be a camp counselor and gets paired with Eli. When the kids arrive at camp, the chaos begins. Ken and Eli bunk in a cabin with counselor Samuel, back from his second tour of duty in the army, and Redford, a kid who thinks he is an alien. Determined to hate camp, Eli is way more than Ken can handle.

    Over the course of camp, Ken’s heart is broken as he learns about Eli's dark past. Eli slowly opens up to Ken as he starts to love Eli unconditionally. Eli begins to have hope.

    An unauthorized visit from Eli’s father to camp sends everything spiraling out of control. Now Ken must decide what he is willing to sacrifice so Eli will understand the meaning of unconditional love.

Julieanne's review of "Camp":

    Our family has chosen to review only family-friendly movies in our home. Camp has some mature themes contained with the movie (abuse and neglect; mentions drug use; smoking and alcohol use is seen). I was a bit reluctant at first to watch Camp, because I knew I'd need to view it without our usual ClearPlay DVD filters so that I could truly review it here for you.

    Camp has a PG-13 rating, which I feel is appropriate for the themes contained in this movie.

    Camp contains some brief language which should be mentioned here: h*ll is used twice, and the "d-word" is also used twice. While they are used appropriately within the setting that is being portrayed, we all felt like the emotion of the setting could have still been portrayed without using this type of language.

    The movie is also supposed to contain one inappropriate gesture, but none of us saw it...so if an inappropriate gesture is in there, we missed it. (Good. Whew!)

    If your family owns a ClearPlay DVD player, then your typical settings on the filtering should remove the inappropriate language as you view this DVD.

    So...I'm a bit picky about the quality of movies we watch. Most Christian-made films, sadly, are in the "meh" department. The plot will generally be excellent, but often the acting is grade B, or the music score/background is poor. Or maybe the cinematography is poorly done. We were so surprised to see that Camp has been made exceptionally well!

    Quality of acting? Check!

    Cinematography? Check!

    Music background/score? Check!

    Everything was excellent!

    And, from a practical standpoint, we laughed so hard in one scene of the movie that I think it's the hardest we've laughed as a family in a very long time!

    ...and cried. There are some very sad, emotional parts to this movie.

    Here's the official movie trailer for Camp:

UNTIL SEPTEMBER 30: Buy a DVD between now and September 30, 2013, and the producers will make a donation of $3 to your favorite Royal Family KIDS camp! RF KIDS' goal is to reach troubled and abused youth and make a huge difference in their lives!

http://thecampmovie.com/rfk/

    To enter this giveaway, please use the Rafflecopter widget below. If you can’t see it, try opening it in a different internet browser. If you still can't see it, you may need to update the Flash on your computer, here. (Hint: just make sure to uncheck the box that says, "Yes, install McAfee Security Scan Plus - optional", unless you want this on your computer.)

    The Camp DVD giveaway runs through October 2nd, 2013 at midnight PST...

    ...and please read the requirements for entering, below, because if you said you completed a step, but didn't, I'll be checking up on you! :)

Entrants must be 18 years or older; only U.S. residents are eligible to enter this giveaway.

I will select the winner of this prize using Random.org (via this Rafflecopter entry form, below).

I will be verifying the winning entrant's giveaway entry options to make sure they are valid. In the past several months, multiple potential winners were excluded from winning even though their names had been selected randomly as winners, because they said that they had signed up for email subscriptions but had not completed the process, which includes clicking on an email you will receive to confirm your subscription. An email subscription to Joy In Our Journey.com is not a requirement to enter our giveaways, but if you do use an email subscription option to enter to win, please make sure that you click on the confirmation email that you will receive. That will validate your entry. Thank you! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a copy of this movie for review, but was not compensated financially in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based solely on my experiences while reading this book.

In the interest of full disclosure, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I receive an affiliate commission. I only recommend products I use personally. Your purchases through these links help support Joy In Our Journey. I humbly thank you for your support!

12 Comments

Kristina Schmidt

9/24/2013 09:47:03 pm

Yes.

Team Southerland link

9/24/2013 10:46:37 pm

One of our family members have adopted two children- our sweet niece and nephew. I am so thankful for them.

Abby

9/25/2013 12:14:26 am

No I haven't! :)

Amy P.

9/25/2013 12:30:07 am

None at all.

Deborah M.

9/25/2013 05:12:06 am

I don't have any personal involvement with adoption or foster care.

Heidi P

9/27/2013 03:59:55 am

No personal involvement, but we've had friend who have adopted through foster care.

Susan Parker

9/27/2013 05:57:23 am

When I was a young child, my aunt had foster kids - quite a many over the years. I was her babysitter most of the time. But seeing how these children were treated by their parents, the system and how lost and sad it was, I decided to volunteer to make a difference.

I became a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteer. I had to go through training, and then I was appointed to a few cases. My job was to make home visits with the parents, the child and the foster parents. Individual times for each. Some visits were planned, others were spontaneous. My ultimate decision was to advocate for the child and what I felt would be best for the child.

I had to write or type a report, about my ongoing visits ( and outcomes) and what was being done on the parents behalf, by the parents, what was going on with the child (adjusting, not adjusting, how visits were with parents) sometimes even showed up to those visits. Then the CASA lawyer would meet with me, advocate for the child on what would be best. Many times it would be agains what child custody services wanted to do (because their ultimate goal what to reunite the family). About 8 out of every 10 cases, judge's decision would be the recommendation of the CASA volunteer.

I did that for a few years, then had my own children, so withdrew from the program. It is mind boggling to sit in on meetings, and listen to some caseworkers complain about their caseloads, and try to move the chid back to placement with parent - just to close case.

That's my experience.

Susan

Mrs T

9/27/2013 12:22:41 pm

My SIL and our best friends and lots of our friends foster and/or adopt. We have not at this point.

Shari Zupan

9/27/2013 10:19:12 pm

We have had no experience with foster care or adoption. I would love for our family to have a chance to see this movie and then pass it on. Thanks for the opportunity!

zekesmom10

9/28/2013 11:08:54 pm

I have not had any personal experience.

Linda @ Linda's LUnacy link

9/29/2013 01:33:52 am

My mother was in foster care before she was adopted at the age of 9, so I have heard her stories of what it was like.

Shecki link

9/29/2013 03:29:31 pm

We were licensed as foster parents in 2009, but adopted from China (in 2010) instead of fostering, due to lack of kids in our area. In 2012, we got involved in Safe Families, and have hosted 3 sibling groups with them. We just adopted from China again this summer, so we are full up now, but someday I would love to host or foster again.

Hi! I'm Julieanne!
You'll find me in the kitchen
trying new Trim Healthy Mama recipes, loving God, and carrying out that love as I bless my husband and teen daughters.

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