text: "Meatballs" is an ode to summer camp. Those of us who got to go to camp will see many of the scenes as we remember or wish they could have been.<br /><br />Bill Murray plays senior boys counselor Tripper Harrison, who really runs the camp. He reminds us of the funny cool staff member who everyone loves. Young campers gravitate toward him and if he speaks to you, you feel like you are family. This is one of Murray's best roles. He drives the film with his one liners and ad-libs.<br /><br />Chris Makepeace plays Rudy, the loner camper who is taken under Tripper's wing and breaks out of his shell.<br /><br />The rest of the campers and staff in the film were excellent as well.<br /><br />The overall theme of the movie is the underdog overcoming obstacles to finally win. From Rudy to Spaz to the Camp and even to Tripper himself, the underdogs of the film are the stars. The movie has heart.<br /><br />The film is fun and funny without being cruel or oversexed as some teen movies are today. The cast look and act like real people.<br /><br />The comedy and heart draw you in to the point that at the end, just like at camp, you are sad to leave.<br /><br />In my summer camp experience we had underwear run up flag poles, mystery meat, trying to sneak a peek into the girls cabin, the lunatic-with-the hook stories around the camp fire, and moving sleeping people out of their cabins and putting them elsewhere. But we also had a dedicated camp staff guiding us to be the best we could be.<br /><br />My favorite scene is the CIT overnight when they are canoeing across the lake singing a goofy song. The one line that cracks me up every time is when Tripper is announcing light outs the evening before Parent's Day and he ends "Tomorrow is parents day, and you must look rested or Morty will be sent to the state penitentiary."