(Editor’s Note: For full disclosure, Camouflage is a film written and shot by a friend of mine, Carey Lee Coffey who was also the Director of Photography for my film “The Anniversary”. The film plays this Thursday as a part of the annual “Dances With Films” film festival in Los Angeles at 2:45pm at the famous Laemmie Sunset 5 Theater. Get ticket information here.
To avoid the appearance of being overly biased, because the movie really is quite good, the following review of the film is written by Ashley Oxford)
Anyone who would do just a tiny bit of homework would know that I’m a little closer to this movie than the average viewer, since the cinematographer and author of the story Carey Lee Coffey is also the Cinematographer for The Anniversary. Can I then be objective about my experience watching Camouflage? Absolutely. Knowing the creator got me in the door to see a film that few have had the privilege to see, but the rest is the raw experience of the film and I am so glad that I didn’t have to dance around the lobby afterwards and avoid being asked (by the man who made me look so good on camera) “So, what did you think?”, because my answer was easy; I loved it.
Tell you a little bit about Camouflage? Sure, but the nature of the beast is such that telling you too much…would be doing just that. It’s the story of a “troubled youth”…aw hell, a bad freakin’ kid who gets busted and carted off to a specialized boot camp of sorts for social rehabilitation. The story is an adaptation of a similar experience that the Writer and Cinematographer, Carey Lee Coffey experienced, having been himself, a “bad kid” who was shuffled off to a reform facility in his teens for an…”attitude adjustment”.
The central character Corey, played by Bug Hall, is relentlessly angry, reflecting and in retaliation from his upbringing with an abusive step-father and a mother that chose him over her own son. Stanley, played by C Thomas Howell is the camp’s Commander In Chief charged with turning recidivist youth into disciplined and redeeming human beings. Certainly not a paragon of excellence, this carefully crafted character has seen too many years of discipline and disappointment and he wears it on his shoulders like the weight of 2 worlds, this one and the next.
These two characters, surrounded by an impressive supporting cast, battle themselves and each other with equal ferocity, which climaxes into the unexpected. The supporting cast of kindred bad kids played by Adam Rose, Nathan Stephens, Austen Parros, Stephen Katz, and Jesse Bernstein each had unique and telling moments in the film, all of which were impressively executed.
The Good:
The story is compelling and complex and the cinematography is breathtaking several times in the film. Each shot is very carefully placed such that the camera becomes the storyteller rendering the words, at moments, obsolete. The cast, set, script, original score, and the overall production value is all impressive for a first film by these producers. C Thomas Howell gave a great performance, as did Bug Hall and the rest of the cast. While trying to decide who my favorites are to mention, I’m struggling because they each brought something unique and interesting to the table, which gives the story it’s depth and frankly, that’s a good problem to have. I loved watching the character development for the whole cast and the ending of the film gives me awesomeness chills (that’s right, I said awesomeness).
The Bad:
The film had some challenges, most notably to me and sadly out of the Creator’s hands is the age factor. Based on an experience had by a 13-14 year old kid as anyone who’s been an angry teen can appreciate the difference, thanks to those pesky child labor laws, older actors had to be employed to tell this story. Luckily for us this leant added skill to the performances but it was a bit distracting early on, though I forgot after a while. By the end of the film I was gripping my chair and once you’re engrossed in the story you don’t let go, but setting up this story, though necessary took a little time and I admittedly struggled a bit in the beginning. It didn’t take too long to start coming together, but I still felt as though I was waiting for something, which for me, is tough and is by no means an experience unique to Camouflage and hey, some people love the suspense. There’s a gag in the beginning with an old lady that personally turned me off a little but it’s brief and utterly forgettable in the wider scope of the story.
Ya or nay?
I DO recommend this film. The story is compelling; there are some really great performances by some relatively young actors who have the potential to make this film a cult classic who’s who of up and comers. C Thomas Howell is haunting as is the cinematography. If you’re in Los Angeles this week, see Camouflage at the Dances with Films Film Festival on Thursday, June 11th. You won’t be disappointed.
