A Week Away

A Week Away is High School Musical meets Camp Rock with a little bit of faith thrown in. High School Musical fans will not be able to miss the Troy Bolton likeness of the Will Hawkins character. He's got the charm and talent that's perfect for this type of role. Rather than including original songs, the music is mostly Christian classics from the 1990s. This isn't a bad thing. I grew up with these songs so it was cool hearing them in a modern musical. One of the standout moments of the whole movie is the mashup of the songs Awesome God and the more recent hit, God Only Knows by For King and Country. This movie is a wholesome, feel-good experience. Is the lip-syncing great? No. Is it cheesy? Yes. But is it also lighthearted and fun? Absolutely. It captured a lot of the elements of church camp. There's lots of flirting, lots of competitive recreation, and of course, drama. The only noticeable thing missing from this church camp compared to the church camps I grew up attending, is the Bible study and worship sessions. The faith element is mostly kept in the background. While there are some deep questions that come up regarding God and the problem of suffering, this movie never tries to answer these questions. The story moves very quickly. With all the fun musical and dance numbers, there isn't a lot of time for character development. It's a simple story that isn't very ambitious, but it is likable. Teens should especially enjoy it.

Troublesome orphan Will Hawkins (Kevin Quinn) is on his last chance. He's set to go to group home until foster parent Kristin (Sherri Shepherd) volunteers to take him in. Only he has to join her and her son George at a Christian camp run by David (David Koechner). Immediately, he falls for sweetie Avery (Bailee Madison).

This Christian film is trying to be a Disney TV musical. It's not the worst idea but the first half is a dud. The lead kid is written as a prankster troublemaker but he's played like a lightweight. At most, he's lying to get the girl. He doesn't even try to run away as his first move. He's bland until the second half. Along with the movie in general, it gets better in the second half. The first half is a boring version of High School Musical. Will and Avery don't even get a good meet-cute. Their first meeting is a perfunctory love-at-first-sight moment which turns immediately to a big musical. It's a meet-perfunctory. It's not until 45 minutes when the couple has a good one-on-one heart-to-heart. From that moment on, the movie improves markedly. They even have their first good song by the campfire and they let their God flag fly. It's like the movie decides to land all the big punches at once. If Will is more of a brigand earlier, his character could have a bigger arc. If the Christianity gets let loose sooner, it could set up the internal religious conflict better. If Will and Avery have more moments quicker, they could have more punch in their emotional drama. Bailee Madison could eat up those Emmy moments if she's released. The first half is a missed opportunity.

Will hit rock bottom when he had the choice to either go to camp or to.youth detention center. There he found friendship, love and God and family. When he first got to camp he didn't want to be there but the longer he was there the more he actually liked it. This movie might be a little cheesy but it's better than the 1 star ratings some are giving it.

Uplifting, inspirational movie with catchy music and entertaining for kids and parents alike. Very family friendly.

Who doesn't like camp plus music? It was a pretty fun movie. It's not the best musical, but it gave me a good hour and a half to enjoy while getting back home.