Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
49
2012
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
70
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
52
Blind Side
47
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
23
Couples Retreat
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
41
G-Force
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
28
Pandorum
58
Pirate Radio
39
Planet 51
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
46
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum
56
Adam
39
Adventures of Power
66
Afterschool
73
Amreeka
49
Antichrist
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The
71
Big Fan
65
Black Dynamite
76
Bliss
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star
76
Broken Embraces
70
Bronson
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
60
Collapse
82
Cove, The
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The
53
Dare
50
Defamation
67
Departures
70
Earth Days
85
Education, An
55
Endgame
88
Fantastic Mr. Fox
31
Fix
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
xx
From Mexico with Love
28
Gentlemen Broncos
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Horse Boy, The
74
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
26
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
43
Little Traitor, The
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
46
Love Hurts
84
Maid, The
45
Mammoth
75
Messenger, The
55
Missing Person, The
59
More Than a Game
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
48
New York, I Love You
66
No Impact Man
26
Oh My God
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Red Cliff
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
65
Skin
41
Splinterheads
42
Staten Island
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
58
Storm
82
Sun, The
49
Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73
That Evening Sun
61
Trucker
49
Turning Green
83
U2 3D
45
Uncertainty
67
Visual Acoustics
32
War on Kids
67
Way We Get By, The
65
Wedding Song, The
xx
White on Rice
59
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74
Woman in Berlin, A
43
Women in Trouble
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Wet Hot American Summer
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 51 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by:
Michael Showalter
David Wain
Directed by: David Wain
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 27, 2001
DVD: January 15, 2002
Running Time: 97 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong sexual content, language and a drug sequence
Starring Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, Marguerite Moreau, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, and Molly Shannon
Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, Wet Hot American Summer follows a group of counselors who are each trying to complete their unfinished business before the day ends. (Eureka Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The movie is so hilariously sly about something so fetishistically trivial that at times it appears to take in an entire culture through a lens made of cheese.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
This shamefully underpromoted, gloriously silly romp made me laugh harder than any other movie this summer. Make that this year.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
It's not a sex movie but a parody, and the loose feel is part of its genius.
Read Full Review >Variety Dennis Harvey
Nearly half over before it finds a consistent groove, let alone a decent hit-to-miss joke ratio.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
The film keeps being yanked back from nothingness by this or that clever sendup, delivered by a small army of invigorated performers who seem to push off from one another's energy levels.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
A mess, bouncing nonsensically from one style of farce to another, leaving large vacuums and dead spots — which may themselves, of course, be deliberate.
Los Angeles Times Gene Seymour
It's nice, once in a while, to come upon a movie that knows it's nothing special, proves it and doesn't care so long as its target audience feels good enough to have a refreshing beverage or two afterward.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
In essence, it's a ragged collection of bits and sketches cobbled into about a dozen plots, most of which call upon the cast to do a lot of tongue and neck-spraining French kissing.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
It comes out less like a spoof than a smart-aleck remake of "Meatballs," minus the energy of Bill Murray.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Lulls aside, Wain and Showalter deserve camp kudos for getting the details right.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Mostly it fails to score. Maybe that's why no one has attempted summer-camp comedy since the third "Meatballs" sequel a decade ago.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
Harmless enough, and its team of actors so frisky and enthusiastic that it manages to deliver a modicum of laughs despite itself.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
The frantic proceedings are more likely to have you wishing this summer would just come to an end.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
This low-budget comedy will most likely try the patience of a paying audience with its uneven pacing, wavering tone and poor production quality.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Plig
The writing here is rarely funny, and often trite and predictable. A couple of scenes are downright disturbing:
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Most of the scenes fall flatter than a lead soufflé, and the film's sight gags -- Andy dumping campers' bodies by the roadside, Gene humping the refrigerator -- are outrageous without actually being funny.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
The film exists in a humid meta-movie ether all its own.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
I want to escape, Oh, Muddah Faddah -- Life's too short for cinematic torture.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
A thoroughly inept piece of moviemaking. You're more likely to find a ham sandwich at a Passover seder than to find a laugh in this picture.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Stumbles right out of the gate and never regains its footing. It's sad to see a gifted comedian like Janeane Garofalo trying, but failing, to anchor this mediocre affair.
New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf
Doesn't swing, doesn't score, can't make it to first base, never even drags its sorry ass out of the dugout.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
This is supposed to be funny? It was so depressing I almost started to cry.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 51 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Tommy H gave it a10:
Just look at the non-State cast that's in this film. Cooper, Banks, Poehler, Meloni, Pierce, Moreau, Rudd, Shannon, it's ridiculous. You think all these people got it wrong? Like they didn't all WANT to be in this flick? David Wain is a genius. ANYONE who says this movie is stupid can just drive their SUV off a cliff after picking up their fat children from Sunday School. It's beyond pathetic that I ever respected morons like Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post. This movie will not be accepted as legendary for at least another decade, but when it comes down to it, many of the actors who contributed to this work will look back on it as their finest of shining moments. I can't wait for Wain and Michael to come out with the prequel to Wet Hot. Buy the State on DVD!!!!
Deron W. gave it an8:
Anyone who has given this movie a bad review...I don't care if you're an intelligent, well-read, objective, observant person who has had years of experience - is completely missing the point. Once again, Owen Geliberman is the only one who gets it. It's borderline criminal how underappreciated this movie truly is, with its one-liners, subliminal disturbing scenes, the writing, the deliberate bad acting, everything. A must own for anyone born between 1970 and 1980. I have had friends fall on the floor laughing with how ridiculous this movie is, it nails all the stereotypes it aims for with style.
[Anonymous] gave it a10:
Clearly the critics are a few generations too old to appreciate this film, my favorite comedy of all time.
[Anonymous] gave it a10:
It disgusts me to read these quotes. This is one of my personal favorite comedies. It seems impossible for the critics, the ones with assumed sophisticated taste in film, to fail to see the true brilliance, creativity, and originality of such a funny film. No I'm gonna go see how my bud's doin in class, gotta check on his grades, see how hes doing.
Brad H. gave it a10:
Greatest comedy ever! Definitely a movie you need to watch more than once. I've seen it about 100 times almost everytime I catch something else hilarious in the movie. The deleted scenes may be the funniest stuff I've ever seen. It took most of my friends a few tries and a little late night drunkeness to understand the humor as well!
Tim G. gave it a10:
To all the critics who gave this movie a bad review; stick to reviewing other genres because you have no idea what truly great comedy is. Leave the comedy reviews to the Onion. (which by the way they gave this film a good review)They are right almost all the time because their brilliant comedy writers. You're damaging people's careers and hurting peoples feelings with your ignorance of not recognizing genius comedy. Chris Meloni's brilliant absurd performance deserves to be seen. Also David Wain's amazing juggling act of satirizing and embracing the summer camp genre movie at the same time should also be recognized. And the leaving the camp for an hour montage sequence, where they quickly descend from sneaking smokes to shooting up smack and prostituting themselves is one of the funniest moments ever in film. Its a damn shame this film didn't get better reviewed.
Jud S. gave it a10:
Okay, look. I can see why the critics don't like it. Showalter-Wain comedy is so far out of the mainstream, that I don't think it will ever be universally accepted. Yet, in a strange way, these guys are on the cutting edge of modern comedy. Whether people realize it or not, these two writers will have a permanent influence on the evolution of comedy. One small example: This movie was on the front end of a generation's fascination with '80s culture. Now, '80s-fueled humor is all over Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and has become the butt of 60-70 percent of jokes on new Family Guy (arguably the funniest TV of our generation) episodes. You tell me that's not influential.
