A Week Away
It’s been so long since I’ve felt so connected
Summary:
A Week Away follows Will, a troubled kid who lost his parents at a young age. After losing his parents, Will was bounced around foster home to foster home, committing small felonies as he went. His latest felony involved stealing, or “borrowing” a cop car. After being caught, Will was on the verge of being sent juvie. Instead, Will was given the opportunity to attend a Christian summer camp. There, he meets friends, rivals, and a romantic interest all while competing to be the best tribe during the daily activities.
Characters:
A Week Away has three protagonist characters who are each kids who attend the summer camp. Will is a troubled kid who lost his parents when he was younger and has since bounced from foster home to foster home while committing some minor crimes along the way. With the decision to either go to juvie or this summer camp he picks the summer camp where he will come to meet some people who might change his perspective on life. George is the son of one of the camp organizers and it was his mom’s idea to bring Will to the camp. Though he is pretty comfortable at camp George has confidence issues that Will can help him overcome. Avery is the daughter of the other camp organiser and she seems to have everything figured out is very kind, confident, and just generally well-liked. While she does seem that way she does have some self-doubt and just wants to be the best she can be.
Nathanyal: 8.5/10
A Week Away was surprisingly a lot better than I imagined. For those familiar with the movie Camp Rock, this movie was very much like it. Contrary to Camp Rock, this movie features heavy religious undertones, which may not be an area of comfort for everyone.
The best parts of the movie are the songs. As the movie is partly a musical, you would expect that the music would be enjoyable to listen, and for the most part, the musical numbers were pretty good. I think besides the first one, I enjoyed all the other ones. They had a nice groove to them. Besides the songs, the movie had some nice emotional scenes, which is due to good writing and enjoyable characters. The setting was also very fun. The activities that the characters participated in instilled in me a sense of longing to join in the fun.
I guess the only real downside of this movie is the predictability. This archetype of movie has been done many times over. So, the plot does have predictable moments. That being said, the movie still managed to be emotional even with the predictability.
Overall, this movie was good. The characters and the musical numbers were enjoyable; however, it did have a predictable plot. Being a movie targeted towards children, this is definitely one I would recommend watching. It’s fun and will be a blast for the whole family. There is a lot of religious undertones in this movie, so bear that in mind.
Sebastian: 8.2/10
This is a movie you have seen before. Now I don’t mean that literally it just came out but it has a very commonly used plot and setup that have been used in many movies before it. That being said I think it executed most parts of this type of story quite well and it ends up being enjoyable to watch. To start with the story the setup of a troubled kid going to a new place (in this case a summer camp) and having a life-changing experience while hiding a part of himself is nothing unique necessarily but I thought that the musical aspect used well to convey characters thoughts definitely boosted it. The music itself is pretty solid with some catchy tunes in the movie and definitely no songs that I didn’t enjoy with most of them being upbeat and fun. The characters are definitely where I think the movie does its best work with Will ( as played by Kevin Quinn) having a typical character arc but I think his emotional moments do end up working especially his continuous struggle with his parents’ death. Avery ( as played by Bailee Madison) does a good job playing the seemingly perfect girl with her own struggles and her and Kevin have good chemistry on screen. George ( Jahbril Cook) definitely steals the show with his comedy and his character’s really energetic personality. There are elements of faith and God in this film and that may be a turn-off for some people but it’s not too in your face and I think is handled well for the most part.
All in all, if you can get past the clichés of the film, I think it still has enough good moments and good characters that I would recommend giving this a watch if you are in the mood. Hop on Netflix and check it out for yourself.
Austin: 8.0/10
A Week Away is a decent family movie, but one that falls into a pretty saturated genre. This musical, summer camp movie does better than I expected to differentiate from other movies in this genre, but it is still incredibly predictable. I enjoyed most of the songs, but the bigger thing was they didn’t feel out of place. The musical numbers were slotted in throughout, and they hit their mark in the moment.
The plot in this one isn’t nearly as good as it could have been, but we have to take a few things into consideration with this one. Number 1, if you are looking for a plot-heavy movie with twists and turns, you are in the wrong genre to begin with. And number 2, this movie didn’t need a strong plot to be a fun watch. The characters are really written well, and they make cliche moments mean just a little bit more. They take moments that you see coming for a mile away and turn it into something that is going to make you chuckle or smile.
The other thing that really surprised me was the emotional swing. The plot follows pretty much an archetype, but the emotions of this movie drop really quickly and a lot further than I expected. This steep drop makes the ending that much better, and it also really helped to further our characters. Our characters follow a pretty straight character arc, but it is entertaining to watch them grow.
This movie, plot and characters, is one of the better examples of “it’s the journey, not the destination that matters” because you know where it’s going. You know where it ends, how it ends, but the moments along the way are the reason to watch this movie.
The camp itself is super cool, and I loved the location they decided to film this at. A Week Away may have huge cliche vibes with a predictable plotline, but that shouldn’t take away from the characters or the writing. The little moments and emotional swings will hold your attention and bring a little bit of joy into your home.
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