As an adult viewer, I had to think back and view the movie through the eyes of a teenager in order to appreciate it. And in doing so, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Camp. Some of the dialogue is awkward, and the story lines don't always wrap up quite neatly, or at least not ideally. But that's how life is, especially during the often awkward adolescent years, and the emotional realism is touching.
Though it loses momentum at times, the movie never loses my interest because of it's strong characters, great musical numbers, and its fanciful--though a bit unrealistic--depiction of this teen-drama-summer camp world that I barely knew existed. And it's a particular world that most people have never experienced, but anybody who's ever felt awkward as a teenager can relate to this movie. Though never an aspiring actor or singer, I certainly related, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
I'm not quite sure if Camp fits neatly into the musical genre, and I don't care. I do know that I couldn't even watch the first 10 minutes of the new Hairspray musical with John Travolta. It repulsed me. But I love Camp, (as I do Dancer in the Dark) which in my non-musical-expert opinion, has too much music-less dialogue, thankfully, to be considered a true musical. This favorable review of Camp is from someone who generally hates musicals.