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Movie:		5.0
Picture:		6.0
Sound:		6.0
Extras:		1.0
Score:		5.0

Director(s):	Christian Duguay
Writer(s):	Agatha Dominik, John Cox
Starring:	Gregory Smith • Mila Kunis • Peter Stormare • Regine Nehy • Christopher Jacot
Genre:	Drama • Thriller
Release Date:	August 25, 2009

List Price:	DVD - $25.99
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America’s fascination with the scared straight routine has long since run its course, but that doesn’t mean the shock tactics involved don’t still carry some weight. Boot Camp tells a story inspired by true events about the “correctional facilities” that still exist across the world, nestled away in countries whose laws don’t have as much red tape as those in the good ol’ U.S. of A. These boot camps aren’t mini-Guantanamo Bays, their clientele never conspired to fly a plane into a building; the people being held here are problematic teenagers whose parents have run out of options and just don’t know what else to do. If you’ll believe it, there are in fact camps like this in the world and their purposes aren’t far off from what you’ll see in this thriller starring Mila Kunis – but the film’s vocal approach to protesting their existence is drowned out by the very loud and clear message that these kids do need something this severe.

Sophie (Kunis) has given her parents trouble ever since they divorced and her mother remarried. Now her all-business stepfather and mother get nothing but grief from their daughter – and they’ve had enough. One day Sophie is snatched and shipped off to an island near Fiji where no one else will ever think to look. From here on out Sophie’s life is nothing but resisting the process of the island. She resists the abuse inflicted upon her by the headmaster Norman (Peter Stormare) and the overly cruel prisoner-turned-staff member Danny (Christopher Jacot). Danny isn’t really a member of the staff, but rather a strict adherent to the camp’s caste system of colored shirts; having started as a defiant youth and climbed his way to the upper echelons, Danny is as cruel as anyone. Rapes, beatings and all other manners of abuse become the perks for Danny and he inflicts them upon many of the inmates, including the ever- angry Trina (Regine Nehy). The camp’s stability is thrown into question when Sophie’s boyfriend Ben (Gregory Smith) learns of Sophie’s fate and arranges to have himself sent there to rescue her. Ben’s arrival marks the beginning of the end for the camp and things begin to change – and not entirely for the better.

We’re supposed to sympathize with these kids thrown into a despot environment and forced to labor away for having done little more than misbehaved – but it’s hard. How do we sympathize with them when their characters are so wholly unlikeable? Even Ben, who somehow tolerates the remarkably bitchy nature of Sophie, becomes a nuisance when he’s willing to turn such a blind eye to the real problem inherent in Sophie’s situation: she’s a genuinely troubled girl. She didn’t need to be rescued, she needed to be disciplined. His efforts are noble but not what the situation calls for. With both protagonists represented as such annoyances, why should the audience want a happy ending for them? We’re asked instead to wish for a sad ending for the camp and its orchestrator, who did some bad things certainly, but was generally acting in the best interest of humankind.

Kunis and Smith make themselves into detestable loathsome youths, from different angles, and in doing so make hard to care – but that’s an impressive feat considering Kunis and Smith have such reputations for being very personable actors and playing characters along similar lines. Smith’s stretch isn’t quite as great as Kunis’s as he’s still nice just willfully ignorant of what’s really important. Stormare works as the camp’s headmaster and he never oozes evil but rather a man who believes his methods are the best way to achieve his goals. In that way his downfall never feels all that satisfying because he did less to vilify himself than the likes of Danny or some of the more vindictive youths turned wardens.

DVD Bonus Features

None.

It’s not a bad film, nor is it really a good one. It’s a mediocre outing that will keep you entertained and little else. So if you have a need for a thriller on a Friday or Saturday night, go ahead and give it a try.