The Floaters: Co-Starring Steve Guttenberg

The sad truth is a Jewish summer camp like Camp Daveed probably requires armed guards today. Happily, their campers will retain their innocence throughout this movie, except in the ways of conventional summer camp teen comedies. Frankly, the hormonally-charged kids really are not even that randy in Rachel Israel’s The Floaters, which opens today in theaters.

Given the director’s name, the mayor of New York will probably boycott this film out of kneejerk hatred. Yet, if anything, it reminds viewers that Jewish Americans are not monolithic in their thinking. Indeed, one Mara’s thankless tasks as camp director is reining in her wildly progressive educational director, who always wants to “ask the tough questions about Israel.” Even more challengingly, she just learned she needs to replace the camp’s septic tank.

Thanks to some of the camp’s Hellions, she also just lost a counselor before they even arrived at camp. At least that one is easy to fix when her best friend (and former fellow camper) Nomi gets dumped by her band, right before they were to leave on tour. Nomi has mixed feelings about Camp Daveed, but she lacks any better options, so she is fittingly assigned the “Floaters.” They are the problem kids who refuse to sign up for activities.

Basically, Nomi must babysit them in the lodge, until Mara agrees to a multi-event contest with their better funded rivals, Camp Barak. She needs the prize money to cover the septic tank, so that means Nomi must produce some sort of stage show with the Floaters.

Yes, the kids are putting on a show—yet again. Indeed, nobody will dismiss this film as excessively avant-garde. However, there are some nice moments along the way. The awkward courtship between Floaters Jonah and Lyndsey nicely encapsulates the divide between secular non-religious Jews embarrassed by “excessive Jewishness” and those who embrace their history, culture, and tradition. While sullen Jonah must attend, because it is his cringy father’s idea of networking, Lyndsey actually loves the camp. Unfortunately, she has been shunned by her friends, due to a misunderstanding the previous year. In a line that will resonate for many viewers, she tells Jonah: “you don’t want to be Jewish, that’s fine, but maybe you should try workshopping an identity that isn’t centered on [an expression for disrespecting] other people.”

Into the Dark: Good Boy

Maggie is rather mousy and under-assertive, but she is still probably pushing credulity claiming her newly adopted dog is a legit “emotional support animal.” Reuben looks like a cute little guy, but there is an awful lot of fight in this dog—too much. Ally Sheedy’s character in Man’s Best Friend could definitely relate to what Maggie will go through, but the characterization and dialogue is much sharper in Tyler MacIntyre’s Good Boy, which premieres today, to commemorate National Dog Day or Pet Appreciation Week or whatever, as part of the current season of Hulu’s Blumhouse-produced Into the Dark.

Maggie’s neighborhood newspaper employer just switched over to an online-freelance model and her landlord effectively raised the rent with new fees. These developments come at an especially bad time, since she is just started preparing for an egg harvesting procedure. She adopted Reuben hoping he would alleviate her stress. It is a responsibility he takes deadly seriously.

Although we never see the entire transformation, it seems furry Reuben is a bit like the Incredible Hulk. You do not want to make him angry. Several people who have been bugging Maggie will lean that the hard way—permanently. Unfortunately, Reuben might also be getting a little jealous of her new boyfriend Nate, who also happens to be a cop.

Surprisingly for a Blumhouse joint, MacIntye keeps most of the gore off-screen. Instead, he keeps us focused on the characters and the sly humor. The Into the Dark franchise is definitely better when it does not take itself too seriously, as was the case with Pooka Lives, Crawlers, and School Spirit. Good Boy is another fine example, especially since it proves Steve “Mahoney” Guttenberg can still be funny, garnering big laughs as Maggie’s aging pot-head editor.