Wet Hot American Summer

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 features an ensemble cast, including Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Michael Showalter (and various other members of the sketch comedy group The State), Elizabeth Banks, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper (in his film debut), Amy Poehler, Zak Orth, and A. D. Miles. The film 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, but has since developed a cult following,[3] as many of its cast members have gone on to high-profile work. Netflix revived the franchise with the release of an eight-episode prequel series starring most of the film's original cast, on July 31, 2015; and an eight-episode sequel series, set ten years after the original film, on August 4, 2017.

Wet Hot American Summer
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Wain
Produced byHoward Bernstein
Written by
Starring
Music byTheodore Shapiro
Craig Wedren
CinematographyBen Weinstein
Edited byMeg Reticker
Production
company
  • Eureka Pictures
  • North Coast Group
Distributed byUSA Films
Release date
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.8 million[1]
Box office$295,206 (United States)[2]

Plot

In 1981, Camp Firewood, a summer camp located near Waterville, Maine, is preparing for its last day of camp. Counselors have one last chance to have a romantic encounter with another person at Camp Firewood. All the while, Ben and Susie, two overzealous drama instructors, attempt to produce and choreograph the greatest talent show Camp Firewood has ever seen.

Beth, the camp director, struggles to keep her counselors in order—and her campers alive—while falling in love with Henry, an astrophysics associate professor at Colby College. Henry has to devise a plan to save the camp from a piece of NASA's Skylab, which is falling to Earth.

Shy Coop has a crush on Katie, his fellow counselor, but has to pry her away from her rebellious, obnoxious, and obviously unfaithful boyfriend, Andy. Only Gene, the shell-shocked Vietnam war veteran and camp chef, can help Coop win Katie—with some help from a talking can of mixed vegetables.

Gary, Gene's unfortunately chosen apprentice, and J.J. attempt to figure out why their friend McKinley has never been with a woman. They are surprised to find that McKinley is in love with Ben, whom he marries in a ceremony at the lake. Victor attempts to lose his virginity with the resident loose-girl Abby, but a series of mishaps get in his way.

Cast

Production

Background

The film is based on the experiences Wain had while attending Camp Modin, a Jewish camp, located in Belgrade, Maine, and Showalter had at Camp Mohawk in the Berkshires in Cheshire, Massachusetts.[4] During one scene, the counselors take a trip into Waterville, Maine, which is not far from the camp. It is also a parody of, and homage to, other films about summer camp, including Meatballs (1979), Sleepaway Camp (1983),[5] and Indian Summer (1993). According to Wain, they wanted to make a film structured like the films Nashville, Dazed and Confused and Do the Right Thing—"films that take place in one contained time period that have lots of different characters."[1]

Development

The film's financing took three years to assemble; in a June 2011 interview, Wain revealed the film's budget was $1.8 million; he noted that during the 2001 Sundance Film Festival,[6] the film had been promoted as costing $5 million, in an attempt to attract a better offer from a distributor.[1] Because of the film's relatively small budget, the cast was paid very little; Paul Rudd has stated that he is uncertain that he received any compensation at all for the film.[7]

Filming

Principal photography lasted 28 days, and, according to director David Wain, it rained on every day of shooting.[1] Exterior shots were filmed when possible, sometimes under covers or umbrellas, but some scenes were moved indoors instead. In many interior scenes, rain seen outside turns into sun as soon as characters step outside. Due to the cold, the actors' breath can be seen in some outdoor scenes.[1] The film was shot at Camp Towanda in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.[8]

Music

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.

Songs in the film
  1. "Jane" by Jefferson Starship
  2. "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner
  3. "Backwards from Three" by Craig Wedren and Theodore Shapiro
  4. "Wet Hot American Summer" by Craig Wedren
  5. "Love Is Alright Tonite" by Rick Springfield
  6. "Danny's Song" by Loggins & Messina
  7. "Turn Me Loose" by Loverboy
  8. "Beth" by Kiss
  9. "Day by Day" from Godspell
  10. "Harden My Heart" by Quarterflash
  11. "Higher and Higher" by Craig Wedren and Theodore Shapiro
  12. "When It's Over" by Loverboy
  13. "Wet Hot American Dream" by Peter Salett
  14. "Summer in America" by Mr. Blue & Chubb Rock

Release

Wet Hot American Summer premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, where it was screened four times to sold-out crowds,[9] though it failed to attract a distributor.[1] Months later, USA Films offered the filmmakers $100,000 for the film, with virtually no participation for the filmmakers, an offer the film's investors accepted. It premiered in New York City on July 27, 2001, then received a limited release theatrical in fewer than 30 cities.[9]

Reception

Wet Hot American Summer received mostly negative reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 36%, based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 4.75/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Wet Hot American Summer's incredibly talented cast is too often outmatched by a deeply silly script that misses its targets at least as often as it skewers them."[10] Metacritic gives the film a score of 42 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[11]

Roger Ebert rated the film with one star out of four. His review took the form of a tongue-in-cheek parody of Allan Sherman's "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh".[12]

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. Newsweek's David Ansen also lauded it, calling it a "gloriously silly romp" that "made me laugh harder than any other movie this summer. Make that this year."[13] Numerous other critics have praised the film as a witty pop satire and it has gone on to achieve a cult following.

Actress Kristen Bell stated on NPR on September 2, 2012, that Wet Hot American Summer was her favorite film, having watched it "hundreds of times." NPR host Jesse Thorn said on the April 29, 2014, episode of Bullseye:

When someone has an open enough heart to accept this silliness—and that's what it's about for me, an open heart—if someone's heart is open to Wet Hot American Summer, they love it. And that's when I know that me and them, we've got an unbreakable bond. Together forever. Like camp counselors.[14]

Home media

The film was released in both VHS and DVD formats on January 15, 2002.[9] In 2011, Wain tried to convince Universal Studios to prepare either a 10th anniversary home video re-release with extra features, or a Blu-ray release, but Universal rejected the ideas. The film was released on Blu-ray on May 12, 2015.[15]

Follow-ups
See also: Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later

The film is followed by two Netflix series, with one serving as a prequel and one as a sequel. The prequel, First Day of Camp, was released on July 31, 2015,[16] while the sequel, Ten Years Later, was released on August 4, 2017.[17]

Legacy
Main article: Wet Hot American Summer (franchise)

Anniversary celebrations

Events were held around the country to celebrate the film's 10-year anniversary in 2011 and 2012, including a screening of the film in Boston,[18] an art show in Santa Monica of works inspired by the film, with a reception hosted by Wain,[19] a screening at the Los Angeles Film School with a Q&A with Wain,[20] a midnight screening in Cleveland, Ohio,[21] a 10th anniversary celebration event with the members of Stella in Brooklyn,[22] and a reading of the script at the San Francisco Comedy Festival, with much of the original cast.[23]

Undeveloped TV series

During an interview with Variety, Wain and Showalter stated that they wrote a pilot for a possible Fox television series based on the film. Wain described the series as a "22-minute Fox sitcom with commercials and nothing Rated R, so it was a little bit odd."[24] The pilot was not picked up for a series.

Documentary

Alongside the prequel series, a making-of documentary, Hurricane of Fun: The Making of Wet Hot, was released on Netflix on July 24, 2015, consisting of behind-the-scenes interviews and footage shot during the filming of the movie.

References
  1. Jeff Goldsmith (June 17, 2011). "David Wain – Wet Hot American Summer". Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith (Podcast). Blogger/Liberated Syndication. Retrieved June 23, 2011. External link in |website= (help)
  2. "Wet Hot American Summer (2001)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  3. Tobias, Scott (June 11, 2008). "The New Cult Canon: Wet Hot American Summer". The AV Club. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  4. "The Rumpus". Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  5. Scheer, Paul (October 30, 2012). "Sleepaway Camp, episode #48 of How Did This Get Made?". Earwolf. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  6. "Wet Hot American Summer". Sundance Institute. Archives. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
  7. Collis, Clark (July 30, 2015). "'Wet Hot American Summer': The crazy story behind the cult classic". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  8. "Full Credit List". Wet Hot American Summer official website. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
  9. "Wet Hot history". Wet Hot American Summer official website. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
  10. "Wet Hot American Summer (2001)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  11. "Wet Hot American Summer (2001)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 1, 2013.
  12. "Wet Hot American Summer". Chicago Sun-Times. Roger Ebert Reviews. August 31, 2001. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
  13. "Review". Wet Hot American Summer official website. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  14. "Bullseye with Jesse Thorn: Jim Rash, Bob Saget, Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham". Maximum Fun. April 29, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  15. "From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment: Wet Hot American Summer – UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., April 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  16. "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes.
  17. "Netflix is going back to camp with Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later". The A.V. Club. April 27, 2016.
  18. "Coolidge Corner Theatre – Wet Hot American Summer". Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  19. "Wet Hot American Summer 6.10.11 – 6.29.11". Nao Live. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  20. "Wet Hot American Summer 10th Anniversary Q&A Screening with co-writer/director David Wain!". Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  21. Arcade Staff (June 3, 2011). "Cult movie classics get big-screen showings". The Morning Journal. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  22. Collis, Clark (August 2, 2011). "Wet Hot American Summer 10th anniversary: David Wain, Michael Showalter, and Joe Lo Truglio remember their days at Camp Firewood". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  23. "The Cast Of Wet Hot American Summer Reunited At SF Sketchfest". Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  24. Seabaugh, Julie (July 29, 2015). "'Wet Hot American Summer': Oral History Details False Starts, Faking Camp Firewood". Variety.
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