Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

David Wain

Writers:

Michael Showalter (written by) &
David Wain (written by)

Release Date:

11 April 2002 (Czech Republic)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

High Times. Hard Bodies. Soft Rock.

Plot:

Summer camp hijinks, set in 1981.

Plot Keywords:

Astrophysics | Summer Camp | Skylab | Talent Show | Vietnam War Veteran

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Janeane Garofalo	...	Beth
David Hyde Pierce	...	Henry Newman
Michael Showalter	...	Gerald 'Coop' Cooperberg / Alan Shemper
Marguerite Moreau	...	Katie
Michael Ian Black	...	McKinley
Zak Orth	...	J.J.
A.D. Miles	...	Gary
Paul Rudd	...	Andy
Christopher Meloni	...	Gene
Molly Shannon	...	Gail von Kleinenstein
Ken Marino	...	Victor Kulak
Joe Lo Truglio	...	Neil
Amy Poehler	...	Susie
Bradley Cooper	...	Ben
Gideon Jacobs	...	Aaron

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content, language and a drug sequence.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:16 | Australia:MA (DVD rating) | Finland:K-15 | Germany:16 | New Zealand:R13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Canada:R (Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Québec)

Filming Locations:

Honesdale, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Eureka Pictures

Trivia:

It rained 25 out of 29 days during filming of this movie.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Most of the songs in the film were released after 1981, the year the movie is set in.

Quotes:

Caped Boy: Excuse me, ladies. You may remember me as the guy who came to dinner a few weeks ago with underwear on my head. My name is Keith Stat from Millburn, New Jersey. State bird, the mosquito. And as you may have heard, I am recently a crowned class B dungeon master. So if any of you would like to play D&D today, please speak now or forever hold your peace.
[he chuckles, and there is an awkward silence at the table]
Caped Boy: Anyone? Alexa!
[Alexa gives him a withering glare]
Caped Boy: Maybe you would like to join in? We do need a druid, and you have definitely cast a level 5 charm spell on me.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References The China Syndrome (1979)

Soundtrack:

Beth

A mixed bag of a summer camp film

This movie defintely has its high and low points, the plot concerns the last day of camp in 1981 at a small Jewish summer camp in Maine. It's meant as a parody of all those late 70s, early 80s teen sex romps like Porky's and Meatballs, and while some of the parodies are dead on, others fall rather flat. Perhaps the funniest moment concerns some of the counselors "hour-long" trip into town which starts out innocently but then degrades into a drugged-out parody where the kids start out smoking cigarettes and quickly go to robbing old ladies to feed their newfound cocaine and heroin addictions. Other high points include the Vietnam veteran cook, the loony arts & crafts instructor, and even the children deciding not to play baseball against the anonymously evil-rival camp because they just don't feel like it. A lot of the movie seems more like a bunch of strung together sketches, which adds to its weakness. However, it is fun to see the return of the bad haircuts, too-short shorts, and high socks that made up that era, along with some great early 80s rock hits.