Aiming for the younger 7 to 15 year-old females, Horse Camp hits the target on the bull’s eye. A winner for the audience, the inspirational film has all the flavors of friendship, coming of age, learning to take direction and accepting who you are. The movie has a bright young cast, able direction and very nice cinematography of the camp, sets and scenes. I highly recommend the film for young girls and parents.
The film opens with a shy country girl Kathy (Jordan Trovillion) watching an internet video of the Black River Farm and Ranch showing the previous year’s girls riding horses and the various activities that the camp has to offer. The final scene in the video shows last year’s Camp Princess Stacy (Kristen Ryda) wearing her crown and riding a horse. Kathy makes a statement to herself that she wishes she could be like Stacy.
Being smothered by her family, Kathy has become introverted and being home schooled she doesn’t have a circle of friends. Luke (Dean Cain) her father is a famous rodeo champion who teaches upcoming bull riders how to stay on the mighty animal while Kim (Sherryl Despres) her mom rode horses as a barrel roper. The next day Kathy after watching the video she convinces her father to send her horse camp at Black River Farm and Ranch. So begins Kathy’s journey to find out what it’s like to be among her piers as a fish out of water.
Director Joel Paul Reisig has other family film credits that show a nice ability to depict inspiring films. Here he shows how one girl can come out of her cocoon to become a beautiful butterfly. When Kathy makes a bad choice that hurts her best friend, Reisig builds his film showing the road back to finding friendship with sweet resolve.
Acting by young stars Jordan Trovillion as the teen who has been restricted by her parents does a very good job of creating Kathy a coming of age youngster. She’s on top of her game with a nerdy look that gets a make-over half way through the feature. Other actors doing their part to make the film entertaining include Kristen Ryda as the snobbish and pushy Stacy. She does a believable job as the returning princess and shows a very different side in the finale. As Kathy’s first friend Lisa, Rachel Sowers develops a plane Jane character who helps her new bunkmate get acclimated to the horse camp. An outcast in the cabin, Lisa provides the fellowship that brings Kathy out of her shell.
Cinematographs Jeffery T. Morgan and Joel C. Warren capture the essence of the film showing the expansive ranch and very good scene shots of all the drama and comical situations. Wide angle and close-ups of the horses, riders and animals at the camp create a dream like film that most girls will enjoy. Speaking of the riding, the actors really show their ability to handle a horse in this film even in some of the most difficult exercises. Couple all this with an amazing sound track of inspirational singing and camp songs.
Horse Camp has been rated PG by the MPAA for PG for mild thematic elements. Preteens and teens should have no trouble with watching this family film except the production value may illicit some ‘mom, I want to go to horse camp’.
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Jordan Trovillion, Rachel Sowers, Kristen Ryda, Sherryl Despres and Dean Cain
Written and Directed by: Joel Paul Reisig
MPAA Rating: PG for mild thematic elements
Genre: Family
Running Time: 1 hr. 47 min
Video Release Date: February 24, 2015
Original Film Release Date: September 10, 2014
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
Subtitles: None
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: ARCEntertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
