Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. It has an excellent cast, including: Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, Paul Rudd, Chris Melloni, Amy Poehler and Michael Ian Black. This spoof of summer camp movies from the 70's and 80's does a great job of recreating the implausible and predictable plots of the movies of the ear while still staying incredibly funny and fresh. WHAS touches on all the old themes, such as the nice guy trying to get the hot girl, the director awkwardly trying to find love, and the outcast who saves the day. Some of the funniest scenes in the movie are the ones that are so random and unexpected-Andy and the kids in the van, the trip into town, etc.-that you just have to laugh. I have no idea why it didn't receive more attention. It's a shame that a movie this good hasn't received the attention that it deserves.

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.

"Wet Hot American Summer" is an overlooked comic gem and an absurdest spoof of those god-awful summer camp movies from the 1980's. If you enjoy "Monty Python" style sketch humor or were a fan of "The State" (many of the players are employed here) or "Kids in the Hall," then this is the ticket for you. People who enjoy humor more in line with the Farelly Brothers or the "American Pie" films probably just won't "get this." It's all a matter of taste and your sense of humor. But seriously, how can you go wrong with a movie that has a pep talk from a talking can of vegetables or an overly dramatic chase scene where the person doing the chasing is thwarted by a single barrel of hay in the middle of a wide open road? My personal favorite is when the guy is driving the van singing along to "Danny's Song" and then out of nowhere screams bloody murder as he slams into a tree. Oh, and who can forget the hilariously rapid decent into the underworld of drugs and despair by the kids spending an hour away from camp in town? This is also a must see for people who appreciate Janeane Garafalo's comic timing and Molly Shannon's bizarre brand of humor. This film was grossly overlooked when it hit theaters, but I think there is a cult following waiting for this movie. I hope these people are allowed to collaborate on another comedy. If they are, then we may have a new dawn of "Monty Python" style humor infecting the barbarian hordes.

Put simply, upon release in 2001, Wet Hot American Summer was a disaster.

Ignored by most critics, failing dismally at the box office and genuinely disappearing from many peoples radars, David Wain's 80's spoof comedy seemed like just another low-brow comedy destined for an unmemorable life, until low and behold, the cult circuit took over and Summer has become somewhat of a classic.

Spawning a prequel and sequel series on streaming kingpin Netflix, Summer's reputation has grown over recent years thanks to the airplay its received from people's lounge-rooms and for the fact Wain's film is a hotbed of early career activity for some Hollywood's biggest players.

Early career turns from the likes of Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Amy Poehler, Joe Lo Truglio and Ken Marino as well as extended parts from established stars Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Christopher Meloni and Molly Shannon, Summer has one of the early 2000's greatest ensemble casts that helps make watching Summer in today's climate a genuine blast no matter what flaws the films has.

As a film, there's a lot wrong with Summer, it has a bare bones story cut straight out of the Richard Linklater rule-book (think Dazed and Confused and Everybody Wants Some!! with less nuance) and a fair chunk of jokes fall relatively flat but thanks to its carefree charm and the natural charisma of its cast, much of Summer is an easy to digest joy.

The dark sense of humor of Wain such as drowning children, crazed Vietnam war veterans with odd fetishes and a continual gag about a particularly long day timed with a frequent clock also help make Summer a black comedic delight, a comedy not afraid to go to some dark places even if its relatively non-existent story doesn't bother to delve deep into much else around its low-brow antics and end of summer camp activities such as a talent show or an odd game of capture the flag.

The haphazard nature of the film and oddball happenings are the likely reason Summer has managed to overcome its early failures to achieve a long-lasting success and while it's by no means a cinematic masterpiece, it's hard to see how one wouldn't enjoy their time in Camp Firewood with a crazy collection of flawed yet lovable counselors.

Final Say -

A time-capsule of early career moments for a raft of well-liked stars and an entertaining throwback to the heyday of raunchy 80's comedies, Wet Hot American Summer is far from a masterpiece but a thoroughly fun and frivolous one of a kind romp regardless.

3 cans of mixed vegetables out of 5

Set in the summer of 1981 this film follows the fortunes of campers and camp supervisors on the last day of camp at Camp Firewood.

Some of the dialog truly is laugh out loud funny, yet some parts - like talking vegetable cans and NASA equipment falling from space is just plain weird.

There is also a rather disturbing edge to this film too - like a rather out of context gay sex scene, a child drowning while two camp supervisors "get it on", heavy drug use in one particular scene and a rather suggestive element of supervisor/camper relations....

Its certainly unique and will probably leave you scratching your head afterwards asking yourself "what the ****????"