Meatballs

1979 Bill Murray comedy about a summer camp. Tripper (Murray) leads the camp counselors in Wacky Hijinks against both their straight-laced boss Morty and the evil-ish rich-kids camp across the lake.

Tropes used in Meatballs include:
  • Butt Monkey: Morty and Spaz.
    • Rudy is mostly treated as this off-camera. He gets better.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Rudy and Tripper bonding as early morning joggers. Rudy's marathon win against the Camp Mohawk ringer gives Camp North Star its victory over the hated rich-kid's camp.
  • Coming of Age: Rudy is the loner geek kid suffering at the camp who learns to accept the challenges of growing up, instead of withdrawing from the world. Also, he wins a ton of peanuts from Tripper in a poker game.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Tripper.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Spaz, whenever he's around busty Wendy.
  • Mystery Meat

Tripper:Here's an update on tonight's dinner. It was veal. I repeat, veal. The winner of tonight's Mystery Meat contest is Jeffrey Corbin who guessed "some kind of beef."

  • Rousing Speech: "It just doesn't matter!"
  • Slap Slap Kiss: A lot of that going on between the guys and girls' counselors, but the movie focuses on the crazy relationship between Tripper and Roxanne.
  • Slobs Versus Snobs: Camp North Star vs. Camp Mohawk.
  • Summer Campy: The first one is arguably the funniest Summer Camp movie yet made.
  • Understatement: During the basketball game between the North Star campers versus the Mohawk guys: "Our guys don't look so good."
    • Also: "Well, the zone is not working..."
  • The Voice: Tripper does double-duty as the P.A. announcer for the camp. Thank God Tripper is played by Bill Murray.

Tripper: Important announcement, some hunters have been seen in the woods near Piney Ridge Trail and the Fish and Game Commission has raised the legal kill limit on campers to three. So if you're hiking today, please wear something bright and keep low. Good luck.
Tripper: Attention, campers. Arts and crafts has been canceled due to bad taste. All junior girls are now junior boys. And Nurse DeMarco says that raccoon fever epidemic is officially over! Hey! You on the water skis! (guy on the skis freaks out and falls into the lake)

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