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:

Summer Camp | Astrophysics | Talent Show | Skylab | Slut

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:

Although called wet hot, the credits thank the crew for surviving a cold, wet Pennsylvania spring. You can also see the actors' breaths at points during the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: While eating breakfast on the last day of camp it is raining outside of the mess hall windows, but during all exterior shots it is dry.

Quotes:

Lindsay: What 'cha doing?
Andy: Writing in my gournal. I write my thoughts in it every day.
Lindsay: Oh, you mean a journal?
Andy: Yeah, whatever. I guess I'm not all smart like you.

Movie Connections:

References The China Syndrome (1979)

Soundtrack:

Day By Day

Like nothing you've seen before

Wet Hot American Summer is without question, the funniest movie to come out in years, and certainly among the funniest I've ever seen. The reason you might not have heard of it is because it isn't as advertised as other movies, because it doesn't have the type of budget to advertise itself. It breaks my heart that horribly made, unfunny, unoriginal movies, such as American Pie 2, were in more theaters and are more available to rent or buy.

The humor in WHAS is not comparable to humor in any other movie that comes to mind. The humor is a lot like the what you would see on The State (because it was written/directed by State cast members). Many scenes are just so ridiculous that you have to laugh, and if you don't, its because you are taking the movie too seriously.

The day this movie came out on video, my friends and I watched it as many times as we could manage to, in one day. Every time we watched, we noticed something new, and still laughed hysterically at the stuff we noticed the first time. It has the type of replay value that should make you go out and buy it, rather than rent it.