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Wet Hot American Summer
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Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 feature film.
The film is a cult comedy about the last day of summer camp in 1981. It stars Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Marguerite Moreau, Amy Poehler, Zak Orth and members of MTV's sketch comedy group The State. It was directed by David Wain who co-wrote the script with Michael Showalter. Both are members of The State and Stella.
Contents
- 1 Synopsis
- 2 Background
- 3 Taglines
- 4 Continuity errors and revealing mistakes
- 5 Characters
- 6 External links
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Synopsis
The setting is the fictitious Camp Firewood. 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 vet and camp chef, can help Coop win Katie – with some help from a talking can of vegetables.
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. 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 off season (i.e., the early spring), it rained for a large portion of the filming schedule. Exterior shots were filmed catch-as-catch can, and in many scenes, the viewer can see rain coming down outside during an interior scene, and in the next scene the characters will leave the building and the sun is shining (see Continuity errors, below).
Often called Wet Hot, the movie has polarized audiences. It has gained a serious underground following, especially on college campuses. It has been called a modern-day Animal House, with fans quoting every single line, parties dedicated to dressing up like the characters, and midnight showings where both take place. The film itself follows The State's irreverent humor, with lots of absurdism, non-sequiturs, and toilet humor. Others have found the film dreadfully unfunny and very sloppily made.
The film was shot at Camp Towanda in
Honesdale, PA and is rated R for adult humor and language.
As the film is set in the 1980s, the film's soundtrack features songs from many popular 80s bands, most notably Jefferson Starship, Rick Springfield, Loverboy, KISS and Peter Salett.
Taglines
- It was the last day of summer camp. It was the first day of the third week in August.
- High Times. Hard Bodies. Soft Rock.
Continuity errors and revealing mistakes
- In the scene where Lindsay and the other girl counselors are stripping down to go into the lake, one of the girl counselors unhooks Lindsay's bathing suit top for her. In the next shot, her top is hooked back up again.
- When Ben and Susie are talking to the kids about being in the talent show, if you look at the window behind them, it is raining, but a few seconds later when the scene changes to outside, it is a bright and sunny day.
- During the scene where Andy throws his food on the floor, Beth is standing on a taped yellow X.
- At the beginning of the movie, when Beth is talking to Henry for the first time, Henry's hands can be seen in the shot. When Beth says, "Space, the final frontier", he's holding them high and out while playing with the handle of the shovel. In the very next shot, both of Henry's arms are down by his waist.
- At the very end of the Capture-the-Flag game, Coop and McKinley can be seen chasing the guy holding the flag. If you look at the other people running there's a guy in a bright red shirt and between shots he keeps switching between being on the right side of McKinley and the left.
- Even though it's supposedly warm enough to go swimming and wear shorts, you can see the actors' breath as they speak. It's very noticeable in the first mess hall scene where Gene is yelling and later when Andy is watching the kid water-ski.
- During the scene where Andy throws his food on the floor, he also knocks his cup off of the table, after a close up shot of his and Beth's face, the cup is back on the table without Andy actually picking it up.
Characters
- Beth (played by Janeane Garofalo) - The awkward director of Camp Firewood who falls in love with Henry, and seeks advice from many characters on how to deal with her crush
- Henry (played by David Hyde Pierce) - Astrophysics associate professor who lives near the camp. Beth convinces him to teach the kids about space but the two end up falling in love as Henry and the nerdy kids must stop a piece of Skylab from falling onto the camp
- Coop (played by Michael Showalter) - An naive counselor who falls in love with Katie and struggles to get her to notice him
- Katie (played by Marguerite Moreau) - Andy's cute girlfriend who is confused choosing between Coop and Andy
- Andy (played by Paul Rudd) - A rude jerk in the model of many 80's films, he is "in charge" of water sports and the lake. He only cares about himself and cheats on Katie with Lindsay
- McKinley (played by Michael Ian Black) - A counselor whose friends try to get him laid, only to find out he is gay, and marries Ben
- J.J. (played by Zak Orth) - Of an undetermined role at the camp, he hangs out with McKinley and Gary
- Gary (played by A.D. Miles) - A member of the kitchen staff who hangs around with J.J. and McKinley. He works under Gene and usually points out the weird things he says
- Gene (played by Christopher Meloni) - Vietnam War veteran who is the head of the kitchen staff. He is disturbed and does absurd things like fondling his sweaters, smearing mud on his butt and humping the fridge. He surprisingly teaches Coop how to be cool
- Can of Mixed Vegetables (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) - A talking can of vegetables who tells Gene to be himself
- Gail (played by Molly Shannon) - A divorced counselor who teaches arts and crafts. She breaks down and has to get therapy from the little kids in arts and crafts.
- Aaron (played by Gideon Jacobs) - An eleven year old in Gail's class who helps her get over Ron, and becomes her fiance
- Victor (played by Ken Marino) - A "ladies man" who is forced to go take the kids on a rafting trip with Neil just as Abby wants to have sex with him. Victor embarks on a mission to get back to camp to be with Abby as Neil follows him, abandoning the kids because only Victor can navigate the "rapids"
- Neil (played by Joe Lo Truglio) - Assigned to the rafting trip with Victor and follows him after Victor abandons him and the kids
- Lindsay (played by Elizabeth Banks) - A hot girl who enjoys barbeque and likes Andy
- Abby (played by Marisa Ryan) - A promiscuous girl who makes out with a few of the couselors and one camper
- Ben (played by Bradley Cooper) - Producer of the drama production who is McKinley's gay lover.
- Susie (played by Amy Poehler) - Director / choreographer of the drama production who has a bad temper
- Steve (played by Kevin Sussman) - J.J.'s weird brother who talks in a robot voice, keeps a pet chicken, and later displays telekinetic abilities
- Arty (played by Liam Norton) - the radio talk show host at the camp who has not taken a shower all summer
- The Indoor Kids- A group of kids including a caped Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master, a Mork and Mindy fan, a Medieval Kid, a mallrat girl, and a Cure girl. A group of misfits to whom Henry teaches astropyshics and leads in a mission to save the camp from a falling piece of Skylab
- Nancy (played by Nina Hellman) - the camp nurse
