Camp Takota (2014)

Film: Camp Takota (2014)
Stars: Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart, Mamrie Hart, Chris Riedell, Chester See, Sawyer Hartman
Directors: Nick and Chris Riedell
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

I honestly don't know what's taken me so long to get to Camp Takota, the film from some of my favorite YouTube personalities.  The movie, for those who are wondering what the hell I'm talking about since they have never heard of it, was created by and released entirely online, and features three of the biggest stars on YouTube (Hannah Hart from My Drunk Kitchen, Mamrie Hart from You Deserve a Drink, and Grace Helbig from It's Grace).  Released entirely online (correct me if I'm wrong in the comments, but I don't think there was even a cursory run in a theater), it was directed by the Brothers Riedell, and was part of a huge rollout campaign over YouTube.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film is about Elise (Helbig), a publishing assistant who has her world turned upside down one day when she accidentally leaks pictures of her boss making out with a hot young author (Hartman) and then catches her ridiculously buff fiance Jeff (seriously-Chester See's body is psychotic) cheating on her.  In a drunken stupor, she decides to accept a job as a camp counselor at the camp she attended as a girl, despite nearing thirty and being at least a decade too old for the position by societal norms.

The film then follows Elise as she goes to camp, meeting up with her former best friends Allison (Hannah Hart), who is a mess hall cook with dreams of being a professional chef, and Maxine (Mamrie Hart) who is about to take over as director, that is if her nemesis Jeff doesn't turn it into a digital camp.  Along the way Elise finds that what was missing from her empty life were friends and a guy to truly love her, which comes in the form of local farmer Eli (Riedell), who sweeps her off her feet.  The film ties up beautifully, with the camp being saved and Elise finding love and success as a writer, putting out a book about her camp experiences.

The film may sound cliched, and that's because it is.  There's no sugarcoating that you can see literally every plot point coming from a mile away, and no character really escapes from being a stereotype.  The script, while filled with the occasional humorous asides, rarely takes time to expand on any character except Elise, and as written, Elise is pretty hard to get to know.  Her character takes giant mood swings, and she's difficult to feel out.

The second problem for me with the movie is that I, while not literally knowing these actors, feel a fairly significant connection with them because I have been following them for over a year on YouTube.  I have seen dozens, bordering on the hundreds, of videos from the six actors listed up on the star list up top, particularly the three lead females, and so I am able to quickly see the quirks that Grace, Mamrie, and Hannah steal from their real-life personas, and occasionally I feel like each of them (but particularly Helbig) borrow from that sort of goodwill.  People who seek out this film are going to know who they are, but I feel like not enough homework was done to expand their personal characters, despite clear talent from all three.

And that's the disappointing part, because the film is actually quite watchable, as these are actors with charisma to the nines.  Mamrie Hart, in particular, has what feels like the most fully-felt creation in the film, and regularly alternates well between a funny, quirky woman and a person who is clinging to a dream that is going away, perhaps after a few other dreams have already passed her by.  Helbig, when she's on (most of the drinking scenes) has the sort of appeal that you hope to see in a romantic comedy lead, and Riedell is dead sexy as Eli, the wandering farmer with a bit of snark to him.  I wish that Riedell in particular had owned a little bit more of his character, bringing him forth earlier (I want to say you don't hear him actually speak until 48 minutes into the movie), because there's a natural chemistry between he and Helbig that the film could have benefited greatly from.

This all being said, if you're a fan of any of the people above (which I am), I'd say watch the movie, as you'll love seeing these personalities we know and love outside their element.  It's a promising first film, and has some lovely touches (I liked that it didn't pander at all to what I'm guessing was its intended audience of teenage girls, and instead felt like a more mature Riedell Brothers piece), though I wish that the movie would have had more confidence that we were buying into characters and not just personalities.

Those are my thoughts (for the record, this is similar to when I gave Twilight 3 stars a couple of years back, knowing that it probably didn't deserve it but I liked it too much not to go there).  What are yours?  Are you a fan of these three and sought out the film, or (and I'm really interested to hear from this crew) someone who stumbled across it by accident?  Do you hope that we will see this group again?  Which actor do you think showed the most promise to cross over into mainstream?  Share in the comments!