Friday, October 26, 2012

Boot Camp (2007)



Number Rolled: 84
Movie Name/Year: Boot Camp (2007)
Genre: Thriller
Length: 99 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Director: Christian Duguay
Writer: Agatha Dominik, John Cox
Actors: Mila Kunis, Gregory Smith, Peter Stormare, Regine Nehy, Christopher Jacot, Tygh Runyan, Colleen Rennison, Barbara Gates Wilson, Lexie Huber

“Boot Camp” was an unexpectedly amazing thriller, however disturbing. A few troubled teens finding their way into a boot camp on an isolated island with no hope of escape sounds like the beginning of “Lost, the Second Time.” Which is why I had it sitting in my instant queue for nearly a year without ever giving it a chance. Its time was up when I rolled an 84.

Mila Kunis is a cute little actress, but I’ve only ever seen her in “That 70s Show” and heard her through the voice of Meg on “Family Guy.” I wasn’t expecting to see much when I found out she was the star in this thriller, but she more than pulled it off. She was natural, reacting like I would expect most troubled teens in the characters situation to react.

The movie delves into a situation where the teens are pulled out of their natural lives and thrown into a place where they have no say, no identity and no choice… in anything. All the while we are shown memories of the situations that got people put in the camp in the first place, the reasons why these children were labeled “bad.” People with a weak stomach might want to avoid the unrated version since there are scenes involving rape.

Sophie, Mila Kunis’ character, is shipped off to a boot camp after butting heads with her step-father and undergoes more and more abuse as time goes on. The more she pushes against the system, the more beat down she gets. Meanwhile, back at home, her boyfriend Ben (played by Gregory Smith) follows his instinct in believing something’s wrong. He does everything imaginable to free her from hell.

As much as I love a good love story, I think it was wholly unnecessary here. The exact same story could have been told if Ben had been a brother or cousin. Let’s face it though, Hollywood knows the deal: sex sells.

On top of that the majority of it, save for the love story, is based around truth. A thriller is always scarier when you know it has, or could have, happened somewhere for real.

Overall Opinion – 4/5

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