WIN OR LOSE – A SUMMER CAMP STORY (2008)

DATE:  4/2/2009  FIRST VIEWING

WHERE:  Monona Terrace at the Wisconsin Film Festival, with Robyn

Another “fill in” from the 500 DAYS OF SUMMER vacancy.  Excited to see a Wisconsin made film, and the summer camp angle seemed too incredible to miss.

THE GOOD: portrayal of the summer camp experience

THE BAD: length of the animated segments

THE WONKY: lots of shirtless tans;  box hockey!!!

This brief documentary about the uber-competitive “collegiate week” at Camp Ojibwa really captures the culture of summer camp, and oh yeah, the competitive nature of boys/men.  We get to met some of the boys, many of whom have been coming to this camp for a long time.  We hear their perspective on the events, and what the camp means to them.  And as the stage is being set, the stage becomes set for a sort of KING OF KONG like battle for the top.

See, Collegiate week is a 10 day experience where 12 teams of boys are chosen, and they compete against each other throughout the week in a variety of sports, earning them points and the highest point getter “wins the week”.  Which is something that means the world to many of these boys (and men at the camp).  One coach of the 12 teams, the larger than life A-Rob, wants to win so bad it hurts [Billy Mitchell?], and has had the worst draft pick the last 2 years.  He draws it again.  Another coach, Adam Korn,  is a former camper who didn’t fit in well, is more the everyman who is ok at sports, who just wants a shot [Steve Weibe?].  He ends up drawing the 2nd draft pick…and the stage is set.  Nobody with the 12 pick (the worst) has ever won…so A-rob is on a mission…and Adam wants to prove that he can win…and soon they find themselves battling for the top spot….

For anyone who has been to any type of camp, this will bring back memories.  I was having flashbacks of boy scout camp and competing…for those who haven’t, there is a gap of not quite understanding the fascination (just look at Adam Korn’s girlfriend when they talk about camp) but this movie is still enjoyable.

What I really liked was the window into these boys’ camp.  Their comraderie, their passion, and how much a part of their lives this is.  And the competitions are a blast.  There are a lot of hilarious moments.  The competition and coping with winning and losing, and taking what life gives you…really comes out as these kids don’t have time to think, just react as they are in the middle of heated competition…really teaches them a lot about themselves.  The whole experience is portrayed in a very engaging way, and the battle for first is edited together to create narrative tension. 

What I didn’t like, well, the animation bits that were thrown in…I appreciated the director needing to get his voice in there, to relay his summer camp experiences and how they fit in with the collegiate week madness…it just seemed like a big chunk of a movie that already wasn’t very long, and disrupted the flow for me a bit.  [and no it isn't confusing, as some audience members seemed to think...]  I am not sure how else he would have gotten that info in there without being intrusive on some level…we found out in the Q&A afterwards that he shot about 120 hours of footage to whittle it down to 1…but 5-10 minutes of that was the animation. 

I would have loved to spend more time with the kids outside the competition.  What made the games so compelling was putting faces and lives behind these kids.  Charlie (?) a team member who lost his last chance at 1st, completely blows up…and we find out that he cares so much because his dad has been out of the picture since his parents divorced…this is his male bonding/role modeling…he needed that affirmation…and he could take feeling like a loser.  You know this…it hurts.  And he comes back…and he has worked through it…and he is now modeling positive behavior for younger kids…awesome.  I would have loved to see more of that…more kids, more of their friendships, backgrounds, whatever.

I still enjoyed the heck out of this film.  A great look at the lives of (shirtless) boys jacked up on testosterone…where it is ok to be jacked up and let that out…one of the counsellors makes the comment that there are no real heroes today, and that here they can feel like heroes.  And as silly as it might sound…these boys are allowed to be heroes in many ways besides just sports at the camp…can’t wait to watch again with my boys

Nice work, Mr Lapat.

7 out of 10