Wet Hot American Summer
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| Wet Hot American Summer | |
 Wet Hot American Summer DVD cover |
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| Directed by | David Wain |
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| Produced by | Howard Bernstein |
| Written by | Michael Showalter David Wain |
| Starring | Janeane Garofalo David Hyde Pierce Michael Showalter Marguerite Moreau Michael Ian Black Zak Orth A.D. Miles Paul Rudd Christopher Meloni Molly Shannon Elizabeth Banks Ken Marino Amy Poehler |
| Distributed by | USA Films |
| Release date(s) | July 27, 2001 (New York City) |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$5,000,000 |
Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 comedy cult film directed by David Wain. The film is about the last day of summer camp in 1981. It stars Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter,Marguerite Moreau, Paul Rudd, Molly Shannon, Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Zak Orth, A.D. Miles, and members of MTV's sketch comedy group The State. It was written by Wain and Showalter.
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[edit] Plot
The setting is the fictitious Jewish[1] Camp Firewood, near Waterville, Maine. It's the last day of summer camp, and the last day for each camper and counselor to find someone to kiss at the end of the big talent show that night. Beth (Garofalo), the camp director, struggles to keep her counselors in order—and her campers alive—while falling in love with Henry (Pierce), an astrophysics associate professor at the local college. Henry has to devise a plan to save the camp from a piece of NASA's SkyLab, which is falling to Earth. Coop (Showalter) has a crush on Katie (Moreau), his fellow counselor, but has to pry her away from her rebellious, obnoxious and obviously unfaithful boyfriend, Andy (Rudd). Only Gene (Meloni), the shellshocked Vietnam war vet and camp chef, can help Coop win Katie – with some help from a talking can of vegetables.
[edit] Background
The movie is based on the experiences Wain had while attending Camp Modin, a Jewish camp, then located in Canaan, Maine, and Showalter had at Camp Mohawk in the Berkshires in Cheshire, Massachusetts[citation needed]. During one scene in the movie, the counselors take a trip into Waterville, Maine, which is not far from the camp. It is also a parody of summer camp movies made during the 1980s such as Meatballs.
Filmed in the late spring, it rained for a large portion of the filming schedule. Exterior shots were filmed catch-as-catch can, and in many scenes, rain can be seen outside during an interior scene, and in the next scene the characters will leave the building and the sun is shining. The film itself follows The State's irreverent humor, with lots of absurdism, non-sequiturs, and toilet humor.
The film was shot at Camp Towanda in Honesdale, PA [2] and is rated R for adult humor and language.
As the film is set in the early 1980s, the film's soundtrack features songs from many popular bands of the era, most notably Jefferson Starship, Rick Springfield, Loverboy, and KISS.
[edit] Reception
Wet Hot American Summer received mostly negative reviews from critics. As of April 2007, it has a 42/100 rating on Metacritic and a 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 11% rating from their "Cream of the Crop" critics. Notably, Roger Ebert rated the film with one star out of four, and despised it so much that his review took the form of a sarcastic tribute to Allan Sherman's Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh.[3] In contrast, Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman awarded the film an "A" and named it as one of the ten best films of the year. Numerous other critics have praised the film as a witty pop satire and it has gone on to achieve a cult following.
[edit] Possible prequel
Wain has confirmed that there may be a prequel to Wet Hot American Summer. The movie would be set earlier in that same summer, and part of the joke would be that the cast who was ten years too old to be playing their parts would now be playing younger versions of those same roles, but this time be 20 years too old. The movie would star the same cast from the original.[4][5]
[edit] References
- ^ "Wet Hot American Summer Official Website". http://www.wethotamericansummer.com/reviews.html. Retrieved on 2009-07-14.
- ^ "Wet Hot American Summer Official Web Site". http://www.wethotamericansummer.com/credits.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
- ^ "Roger Ebert Reviews: Wet Hot American Summer". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. August 31, 2001. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20010831/REVIEWS/108310303/1023. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
- ^ Bartyzel, Monika (July 22, 2008). "A Prequel to 'Wet Hot American Summer'??". Cinematical.com. http://www.cinematical.com/2008/07/22/a-prequel-to-wet-hot-american-summer/. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
- ^ Published 07/21/2008 (July 21, 2008). "Wet Hot American Prequel?". Chud.com. http://chud.com/articles/articles/15646/1/WET-HOT-AMERICAN-PREQUEL/Page1.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
[edit] External links
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