I had no idea that Family Camp was a “faith-based” movie until after I watched it, to be honest with you I had no idea that faith-based movies were even a thing and I just took this as a family comedy! It is not a bad movie and it was better than I thought it would be. It reminded me of the 90s or early 00’s family comedy more than anything else, but I could not put my finger on why this was the case.
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You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like comedies, check out also our reviews of Marry Me and Jungle Cruise.
The Movie Review
At the heart of the movie, we have two families. We have the Ackerman family with dad, Tommy, mom, Grace, and kids, Hannah and Henry. Tommy is obsessed with his work and his marriage and family life are pretty strained. While at church, his wife demands that they to “Family Camp” to try and get closer and become a better family.
The other family is the Sanders family. The Sanders family is made up of dad, Eddie, Victoria, and their two kids as well. Since Tommy did not register the family for camp properly, they are forced to share accommodation with the Sanders family. Eddie and Tommy are complete opposites and both men are not exactly the family men that they wish they were or that they portray to the world they are.
At the heart of this camp is a special trophy that is awarded to the family that gets the most points. The Sanders have won this camp trophy the last two years and now they are in for a fight with The Ackermans! It is a lot of fun to watch the families compete in the various events and it is about as cliché as you can get, but it has a lot of charm.
The two families at war trying to win the trophy probably would have been enough to carry the movie. However, it does offer more. At one point, Tommy and Eddy end up lost in the woods and they have one heck of a rough time trying to get back. It is fun to watch, but this is where we also get some self-realization as they both see that they could be better husbands and fathers.
By the time the credits rolled the wife and I were in agreement that the movie was ok. It was not great, but it was far from bad and it ended up being a fun movie to watch while we stuffed our faces with snacks. The whole “faith” aspect of it was lost on me (not that I am saying it was not there) so do not worry about it being a preachy movie or anything like that.
I have to say that in many ways it reminded me of 2005 Cheaper by the Dozen II movie. It was not quite as good as that one, but I have seen far worse family comedies than this one. If you enjoy watching silly, slapstick-style comedies, then you can do a heck of a lot worse than this one. Give it a try, it may be better than you would think.