jimbo-53-186511 Having just watched Meatballs I was struggling to decipher what this film was trying to be or what it was trying to say; clearly it has a coming-of-age aspect to its story, but it's given very little focus or development. It's also clearly a film about the trials and tribulations of a bunch of youths whilst they're at a summer camp whilst they are being mentored by their crazy leader Tripper (Bill Murray).The problem with this film is that it has no definitive structure and no coherent plot line; it moves from scene to scene and from person to person but never in a way where it feels as though a story is being told - it felt like I was watching a series of goofball sketches lazily edited together rather than an actual story. Up until about the 60 minute mark the film doesn't seem to have any kind of point (although to be fair it does establish one in its final third) but to be honest I found myself kind of bored; nearly all of the characters are boring clichés that unfortunately remain this way throughout the film - there never seems to be any revealing moments or irony with any of these characters making them feel rather dull and one-dimensional.There is one interesting aspect of the story (involving the bond between Rudy and Tripper) which is quite endearing, but it's never really given the attention that it deserves and sadly Reitman seems more interested in creating several chaotic and random moments which never seem to manifest themselves into any kind of story and many of these moments seemed to serve little purpose.When I looked at this film I was actually hoping that it would be similar to Animal House but the thing with Animal House is that it was silly but funny whereas Meatballs is silly without being funny and that's the key difference. There were no big laughs on offer at all and very few small laughs (the only thing I found mildly amusing was the scene where they strap Monty to his bed and leave him outside strapped to the bed overnight).One thing that is great about this film is Bill Murray and he does bring this dreck to the life whenever he is on screen. Granted he does overact occasionally, but in fairness he probably felt obliged to because nobody else seemed to be making much of an effort.The film has a nice feel good ending to it (albeit a predictable one), but truthfully Meatballs isn't a particularly fun film to sit through and its 'Are you ready for the summer' theme song is pretty annoying as well.

kathydavis276 Meatballs is a superior movie! This silly wonderful flick makes my summer. The counsellors in the film are familiar, the parallels to real camp staff are amazing. The Canadian Wilderness is also quaint and warm, and haunts me like a sensory memory. Bill Murray is, well, Bill Murray, in life and in the movie. Sweet, funny, considerate and embracing, Bill never disappoints. This is a slice of life/coming of age movie that represents so many aspects of youth that are difficult but survivable. The acting is real and believable, the watcher feels for their issues and celebrates their wins. Worth watching, over and over, this sweet movie is something to smile about.

tavm A year after John Belushi hit it big in the movies with Animal House, fellow SNLer Bill Murray would do the same with Meatballs with help from director Ivan Reitman-who was a producer on AH-and that film's co-writer Harold Ramis. Also from the Belushi picture was music composer Elmer Bernstein who would provide scores for other Reitman/Murray/Ramis movies like Stripes and Ghostbusters. Anyway, Murray provides great laughs with his charismatic wild-man persona as a camp counselor who helps a shy young boy (Chris Makepace) get out of his shell and a fellow female staff member (Kate Lynch) fall for him. Another staff member is Morty (Harvey Atkin) who falls victim to many of Bill's practical jokes. Then there's Spaz (Jack Blum, brother of the movie's co-writer Len Blum) and his buddy Fink (Keith Knight) who provide a touchingly humorous nerd-&-tubby vibe. There's also some sex appeal in the person of Wendy (Cindy Girling) and a girl-next-door one in A.L. (Kristine DeBell though she's probably best known for being Alice in the X-rated version of Alice in Wonderland). In other words, there's a nice mix of one-liners, slapstick, and sentimentality though it doesn't go overboard on the latter. Not everything works but Meatballs is still-all these years later-a good comedy worth watching especially for the first starring role of Bill Murray. Oh, how I loved hearing "Spaz! Spaz! "Spaz!" and "It just doesn't matter!" once again...

Woodyanders Wildman head counselor Tripper Harrison (Bill Murray in peak nutty form in his first lead role) presides over the various wacky hi-jinks at North Star summercamp. Tripper befriends sad and lonely misfit kid Rudy (a nice and affecting performance by Chris Makepeace). Director Ivan Reitman relates the amusingly off the wall comic vignettes at a ceaseless snappy pace and maintains an engagingly good-natured tone throughout. This film astutely nails the breezy'n'breezy essence of summer: making friends, first love, pulling pranks, competing in sports with a rival camp, campfire singalongs, and, of course, the inevitable scary urban legend about the escaped psycho killer with the hook hand. The sense of gleefully raucous fun this picture generates is positively infectious. Moreover, the humor is always goofy and occasionally gross, but never too nasty or mean-spirited. Best of all, there's a winning surplus of pure heart to go along with said humor (the warm relationship between Tripper and Rudy in particular is genuinely touching). The cast have an obvious ball playing their likable characters: Murray's gloriously gonzo and galvanizing presence keeps things constantly humming (his crazy PA announcements are absolutely sidesplitting), plus there are sound contributions from Harvey Atkin as hapless camp owner Morty, Kate Lynch as Tripper's sassy old flame Roxanne, Russ Banham as the amiable Crockett, Kristine DeBell as the sweet, foxy A.L., Sarah Torgov as the feisty Candace, Jack Blum as klutzy bespectacled nerd Spaz, Keith Knight as tubby slob Larry Finkelstein, Cindy Girling as the fetching Wendy, and Matt Craven as the hip Hardware. Donald Wilder's cinematography gives the movie an attractive sunny look and makes nifty use of wipes. Elmer Bernstein's lively and melodic score likewise does the trick. A real riot.