DVD Release
At risk teens are shipped off to what their parents believe is a rehabilitation center for teens with behavior issues on an island in Fiji. The boot camp run by a so-called doctor is just advocating abuse and brainwashing as his rehabilitation program.
Here we are treated to another one of these based on real incident films. This part is for real there really are boot camps that are rife with abuse on all levels coming from multiple aggressors and boatloads of brainwashing going on as well. The fact that this film is based on probable real incidents doesn’t make the viewing any better though. This film turns over a very average if not on the ridiculous side in scripting and performances. Aside from that, it’s actually boring. Peter Stormare is not menacing enough as Doctor Hail. Mila is not real enough and not experienced enough to carry a film yet and she actually comes off like she didn’t really believe the scripting herself. Almost as if bored with the proceedings for the most part. Perhaps not entirely her fault as she wasn’t given anything of import in the script to work with, she just ends up looking silly in this film. Her boyfriend played by Gregory Smith fares a little better but not much. The wonderful photography and setting are all lost on this film, as it indeed isn’t worth the watch for that alone. I will give props to the cinematography though. I will give a big fat F to the sound people on this film. Music = really loud, dialogue = really low. Not a good thing to have to constantly fuss with your volume for speaking and then having your speaker blow out because of a sudden burst of really loud music. Ouch! Not my idea of a good time. Let’s face it folks, if you are going to try to go all Lord of the Flies on us then you really do need to amp up the psychological tension and that doesn’t happen. Coincidentally, the revenge is not a sweet and tasty treat here. I’ll give these people props for trying to make a statement or make others aware of these occurrences but this was painful to sit through in my opinion. I think a documentary would maybe be more to my liking and a better awareness tool then sitting through this fictional account of bad teen boot camps.
Some of the incidents that occur throughout can be considered cruel and mean. There is a rape and violence but no blood and guts. This is not a horror film. It’s not a mystery or a thriller. I’m having real trouble placing this in a genre. If anything, it might just be considered an incredibly mediocre drama. Sorry folks, but I’d really just like to ship this production off to film boot camp! Next!
