The following YouTube clip of the "Tents" theatrical trailer highlights all the fun and adolescent challenges in this delight.
Considering both the amusing strong slacker vibe in "Tents" and the IMDb synopsis of the film perfectly describing it, it is apt to borrow that summary for this review. That overviews describes "Tents" in the following manner. "In a working-class town in 1984, a high school senior's future creates a tug-of-war between his no-nonsense father and his crackpot guidance counselor until an encounter with a goddess helps him uncover his true destiny."
The central adolescent is everyteen Danny (Michael Grant of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"). We meet him in his final weeks of his senior year in the aforementioned blue-collar community in which employment at the local steel plant is the highest aspiration for most residents. Danny loves to sketch and is good at it but sees his destiny as joining his aforementioned parent at the plant.
The aforementioned guidance counselor (comedian Jim Norton) Mr. Mulligan enters the picture when this nasty as he wants to be school department employee learns that keeping his job likely requires getting more students accepted at college. This prompts Mulligan to call a contact at a local institution of higher education on behalf of Danny.
Danny receives the news that college is an option and that his father used his clout and made a sacrifice to get Danny a coveted job at the plant on the day before an annual rite of passage for seniors. "Trout Camp" is a blowout wilderness weekend full of drinking, smoking pot, and (hopefully) sex. Part of the mythos of the weekend is "goddess camp" full of beautiful women who apparently greatly desire wild intercourse with nervous inexperienced painfully horny high school boys.
The always entertaining Booboo Stewart of the "Twilight" and "Descendants" franchises plays Danny's charming pot-loving buddy Todd, who is responsible for a 20-something drug dealer crashing the party.
A disruption the first night of the weekend sends the group scattering in a manner in which Danny gets lost in the woods only to find himself in the company of the aforementioned deity. That provides the peace and serenity that he needs to decide whether his destiny lies at the plant, at college, or as an artist.
Some of the ensuing hilarity relates to Dad and Mulligan separately going into the woods in search of Danny. Gleefully burned out older brother Pete largely comes along for the ride.
The textbook coming-of-age ending has Danny initially being a dutiful son but ultimately ending up where he belongs and with Dad coming to terms with that.
All of these themes are very reminiscent of the 1988 Keanu Reeves indie film "The Prince of Pennsylvania." Like Danny, Reeves' Rupert is facing following his father into a life of rough blue-collar work in the Keystone State. The final scene of this one is one of the best of any film.
"Tents" additionally rocks a bodacious alternative soundtrack that includes "Senses Working Overtime" by XTC. The film directly addresses these tunes in a scene that has a buddy of Danny challenging a girl who still likes Rick Springfield in an era in which much more creative stuff is being released. Excitement over a Sony Discman CD player adds related retro fun.
On a larger level, "Tents" is a nice reminder of going to the video store in 1984 to select movies for a Saturday night film festival. The typical schedule was starting with light fare such as "Tents," following with a cool classic such as "Chinatown," and ending the night with something in between in the form of a comedy with some substance or a neo-noir of the era.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Tents" is encouraged to email me; you alternatively can connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
No comments:
Post a Comment