Customer Reviews

Wet Hot American Summer [VHS]

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

If you liked The State, the sketch comedy show from MTV, then you'll most likely laugh at the same people here. Most of the cast is in this film, and Michael Showalter and David Wain (also the director) co-wrote it.

It's the last day of camp in the summer of 1981. Janeane Garofalo plays the camp director who falls in love with the local physicist, David Hyde Pierce. But the real star is Showalter, who plays "Coop," trying to get the girl of his dreams to fall for him, in spite of her "love" for vapid Paul Rudd (who reminded me a lot of Trey Parker here, for some reason).

This movie is basically a take-off of the `80's camp films like Meatballs. You know, the ones they used to show on USA Up All Night. And every possible gag is included here, including a few I didn't see coming (like the trip to "town").

One thing, though, keep in mind while you watch it that all of this is happening during the span of one day.

Wet Hot American Summer is a movie which I have to admit I wasn't thrilled by the first time I saw it, but the second time I really started to understand the humor and now it is my favorite comedy. The type of comedy in the movie (as others have stated) is very different then what you would normally see in prime time, but it gets more and more hilarious everytime you watch it... love it...

I had heard good things about this movie when it was at Sundance, but it seemed bypass the Chicago are almost entirely. So I rented the DVD, and this movie was hilarious. It's a shame that movies like American Pie 2 and Dung Pow (or whatever that awful-looking Martial Arts movie is called) are considered 'daring' and 'edgy' because of a few gross-out gags and little else. This movie was edgier and more daring than any comedy I've seen since the classic "Where's Poppa". It is most simply a parody of early 80's summer camp flicks, but it also has a bizarre, absurdist genius to it all it's own. Not every gag works, but it has enough unforgettable lines and sequences to ensure it's eventual evolution into true cult classic. The cast is all great, but the best is Chris Melloni (of Oz and Law & Order SVU) who is freakishly hilarious in his role as the camp cook. You don't just have to be a fan of MTV's the State to enjoy this as I have never seen the show. This film won't be for everyone, but I have a feeling that a lot of reviewers who hate the film are missing the fact that this isn't just a by-the-numbers parody like Scary Movie and even lesser pieces of garbage. It is more of a masterpiece of genuine insanity that I really believe will gain favour as the years pass. Along with Jack Nicholson's The Pledge (as different a film from this as you can get) this is truly one of the films that got away in 2001. Don't miss your chance now (and be sure to check out the deleted scenes; Melloni has some great bits that shouldn't have been cut).

As a twenty-two year old male who fondly remembers both staying up late to watch summer camp sex comedies on cable while his parents were asleep AND devotedly watching the The State's MTV series, I am an ideal member of Wet Hot American Summer's target audience. Predictably, I laughed harder watching this film than I have at anything since 99's Bowfinger. Should being a fan of The State be an important factor in enjoying this film? No. Should spending a sizeable chunk of your late-night adolescence hoping Mom & Dad don't catch you enjoying Hamburger: The Motion Picture a little too much determine whether or not you'll "get" a film that makes so many era-specific references? Absolutely not.

Blessed with a witty script by State alumni David Wain (who also directs) and Michael Showalter (who does double duty as an actor) that deftly balances telling its story briskly and slyly subverting it in ways that are so suprising you laugh not only at the joke but at being caught genuinely off guard. The film also boasts one of the most gifted casts of comedic actors in recent memory. Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, vets from The State as well as actors such as Paul Rudd and Christopher Meloni who are so good and so in sync with the production that if one were not aware of their impressive dramatic work, Meloni as Keller on HBO's OZ and Rudd in various films including The Cider House Rules, you would think they were career comedians. And the ensemble of young actors playing the summer camp children are simply astonishing in their assurance. Wet Hot American Summer is one of the few films to have so large a cast of child actors where every single one is perfect in their role.

Reviewers left cold by this film complained that summer camp film staples such as Meatballs and others that inspired Wet Hot American Summer were beneath spoofing. Such comments are as off the mark as someone beefing that the Airport films that Airplane! skewered were too lousy to have a film dedicated to making fun of them. For one thing, if something is funny than it needs no further justification. More importantly, bottom-line driven schlock such as disaster films and summer camp romp flicks are ideal because they provide those sending them up with a solid story structure, rules which must be abided when making such films and stock characters that propel the story forward. Commercial films made for no other reason than to pop a quick, cheap profit are like the plays of the Greeks and of the Romans in that you can break them down to a simple formula that can be repeated umpteen times with little to no variation. The problem with most original comedies is that it is hard to craft a stable structure that doesn't take a quarter of the film's running length to pick up steam or that doesn't completely peter out in the end.

Owen Gleiberman at Entertainment Weekly was perhaps the only major critic to include Wet Hot American Summer as one of the year's top films. With at least an honest half-dozen performances that would qualify as Oscar-worthy and a script in league with more celebrated films such as Memento and Ghost World, Wet Hot American Summer should be destined to find its home as a perennial video/dvd rental. Ultimately this is a shame because this film deserved immediate recognition as one of the top American comedies of the past five years.

This is really a very great movie, and is destined to be a cult classic. I think that the reviewer(s) who said that intelligent people would be above the jokes is mistaken, and it turns out that the jokes were above them. It seems very clear to me that the humour in this movie (like the better part of good humour for the last half of a century) is all about surrealism. I think to really get the jokes in this movie, one should probably be familiar with the works of Luis Bunuel, and of course the later and more mainstream-comiedic Montey Python. Now, of course all of these intelligent jokes are hidden behind a veil of seeming stupidity and childishness, but I think that's part of the beauty of the film. People who consider themselves too intelligent to enjoy sillyness end up missing out because of their pretentiousness, while the ones with the real brains, and the confidence to enjoy them, get to laugh for the entire duration of the movie without prejudice. I have the tendency to believe that all of the people involved with making this movie are not only hilarious, as one can tell from watching it, but also extremely intelligent.

Some of my favourite parts in this movie are the ones that make the least sense rationally. eg. There is one scene where a character's hair style changes drastically in the time it takes to pan the camera from left to right. The irrationality of this sort of thing is utterly hilarious and is to be embraced. It brings back memories of the rooster scene from Los Olvidados.

So, in closing, watch this movie once or twice, and open your mind to the jokes. You'll be glad you did.

I saw this movie a few weeks ago not knowing beforehand that several members of the State are in it and that Wain and Showalter produced and wrote it. The first time I saw it I thought it was great. Upon second and subsequent viewings I realized that it is the smartest and funniest comedy ever made. Yes, this is just my opinion, but that doesn't make it any less true. Showalter, Black, Marino and Lo Truglio are simply amazing. The rest of the cast is great too, especially Christopher Meloni (sp?) as Gene. Garafolo and Pierce are easily the least funny people in the movie, but even they pull off a few good moments. By the way, if you are stupid (i.e. Roger Ebert) you will probably not like this movie. It will leave you confused and angry. If you are a real person, however, you will want to watch it constantly. Hopefully Showalter and Wain will make another movie soon. Again, funniest movie ever made...

but it's definitely not for everyone. As the reviews show, this is a movie that you either love or hate.

As some of the negative reviews have mentioned, there is a major lack of continuity in this film. This is something that made it really funny, in my opinion, and I would be willing to bet that those people didn't even notice exactly how much blatant discontinuity there was. In one particular scene, a character returns from a short trip with long, raggedy hair to talk to another character, and when the camera returns to him after she says something, his hair is at the length it was when he left. Just a couple minutes later, a similar thing happens with another character, even more obvious this time. I don't know about you, but I thought that was quite funny.

What I think is a problem for those who don't like this movie is that they expect some blunt parody of the 80's camp movies, when it really isn't. I think it revels in the genre but isn't really trying to directly mock it like Scary Movie did to horror movies. While there is definite parody in it, much of it is simply demented, nonsensical fun. I found the lack of consistent parallels refreshing, and it kept the movie interesting. And you have to really pay attention to it, because there is subtle humor strewn throughout.

I will say that I was a fan of The State in its days, but I had no idea that the people from that show had anything to do with this movie at the time I'd rented it. I just knew some people who thought it was funny. I also was never into 80's camp movies. So you don't have to be really knowledgeable of that genre to enjoy this. You do, however, need to have an appreciation for weirdness and an unusual sense of humor to really "get" this movie.

I just came back from the first showing of "Wet Hot American Summer" in David Wain and Molly Shannon's hometown of Shaker Heights, Ohio, and here is my story.

For the first time in many years, I was initially drawn to this film based on the movie poster alone. Easily the best film poster of the new millenium, it recaptures the zany cartoon-style montage virtually unused since the 70's and 80's.

However, given the 45-minute drive to the only theater in Cleveland playing the picture, I decided to read a few reviews first. Absolutely no help here, as they were wildly mixed, with critics either loathing (Cleveland Plain Dealer) or loving (Entertainment Weekly) it. Being a big fan of film parodies, even some that were poorly reviewed (e.g., "Top Secret"), I gave in.

The 45-minute trip turned into an hour+ voyage, as I was caught in a torrential downpour, arriving suitably "wet" for the film. Not in the best frame of mind, I thought, "David Wain had better make me laugh, or I'm walking out."

Folks, this is the best genre spoof I have ever seen. It looks AND (more importantly) feels like a late 70's/early 80's picture. This is a rare achievement, as most genre comedies (e.g., "The Wedding Singer"), are much too glossy and forced to create this effect. The only films in recent years that have come close are "Dazed and Confused" and "Jackie Brown." From the hair styles (e.g., white male afro, middle parts, feathered hair), to the clothes (e.g., ragged jeans shorts with white pocket liners hanging out), to even the calculators (those that made that annoying clicking noise each time a button was pushed), every detail was impressively accurate. In addition, perhaps due to its low budget (an estimated $1 million) or perhaps the result of the director's sharp attention to detail, the soundtrack contains rarely heard 80's gems and is filmed on celluloid which creates an aged, authentic look. To further generate the spirit of the camp comedy genre (or again the result of a low budget), the stars were even asked to sleep in cabins during the shoot.

The film's gags are rapid-fire. The biggest laughs (semi-spoiler alert) were drawn from the "office rampage" and the "wedding gift." "Wet Hot.." also contains the best use of hair gel since "There's Something About Mary" and has the most canned laughter since "Three's Company." For those who have seen the picture, you know precisely what I'm referring to. For the head-scratching majority, I compel you to find out.

However, what makes this film even more authentically funny is its subtle 80's humor. True to form with many of the comedies it parodies, some jokes fall completely flat and various plot lines seem out of place and disjointed. Too bad most critics are not able to dig beyond the obvious, in your face jokes to realize that the "unfunny" and "confusing" moments were planted as a throwback to the 70's/80's comedy style.

Well done, David Wain! Can't wait for the loaded special edition DVD...and your next picture (hopefully `Wet Hot American Summer II: Ten Years Later, at 9:30 A.M."...hehe).

I happened to see this movie for the first time by chance one evening while flipping through the movie channels. I was immediately pulled in by the hilarious absurdity of the scene (one of the camp counselors jumps out of a raft of kid campers and leaves them drifting down the river so that he can fetch another camp counselor who knows how to better navigate the waters and is running back to camp with plans to get laid). Everything is so ridiculously funny; it leaves your face hurting from smiling and laughing! Because of the 80's theme, I initially thought that this was an older movie that I had somehow missed. It initially reminded me of some of Monty Python's work (e.g. in "The Holy Grail" when the dark knight loses one limb after the other yet continues to live and fight). The movie was such careless, refreshing, comic entertainment that I have been recommending it to all of my friends!

Yes, if you don't know the films that are being parodied here, this movie will make no sense to you. However, it's one of the smartest satires of a film genre I've ever seen. Janeane Garofalo's performance alone walks the line between overacting and making fun of overacting so well that it's easy to see why some people might just think it's a bad movie. Don't make that mistake; it's intented to be bad. And when the film goes off on surrealistic tangents -- the trip to town, the disposing of bodies -- it still works, because the film has set up its premise so well. So buy and enjoy. Paul Rudd's performance as the bad guy/stud is so perfect it merits some kind of award. The scene where he has to pick up the plate he's just thrown on the ground is a masterpiece of pantomime. He so disgusted ast having to do it, that he "machos" all over the room. And the music, especially the "fire, desire, higher and higher" song, is hilarious. Loverboy will never seem the same again. AND the van crash is one of the most perfectly timed scenes in any comedy. Watch it again, and you'll start laughing in advance of the scene, when the driver is singing Danny's Song. What a great film. Bring on the Pepsi Light!