Underplayed Gems

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Wet Hot American Summer poster
Directed by
David Wain
Genre
farce, independent film, parody film, romantic comedy, LGBTQ-related film, satirical film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 37m
Rated
R
Rating
6.2 of 10 from 890 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

On the last day of summer camp in 1981, camp counselors and teens get into ridiculous adventures and romantic entanglements. It pokes fun at 1980s teen sex comedies with over-the-top characters and situations.

sillyenergeticslapsticknostalgiccampyabsurdparodicloudfast-paced

What happens

Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 American satirical comedy film directed by David Wain from a screenplay written by Wain and Michael Showalter. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Showalter (and various other members of the sketch comedy group The State), Marguerite Moreau, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, Zak Orth, A. D. Miles, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper (in his film debut), Marisa Ryan, Kevin Sussman, Joe Lo Truglio, and Elizabeth Banks. It takes place during the last full day at a fictional summer camp in 1981, and spoofs the sex comedies aimed at teen audiences of that era. The film was a critical and commercial failure; it has since developed a cult following, and many of its cast members have gone on to high-profile work. Netflix revived the franchise with the release of Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, an eight-episode prequel series starring most of the film's original cast, on July 31, 2015; and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, an eight-episode sequel series, set ten years after the original film, on August 4, 2017. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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