Wet Hot American Summer

Name: Wet Hot American Summer
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: July 27, 2001
Duration: 97 min
Rating: 42
Cast: David Hyde Pierce, Janeane Garofalo

2001

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 88 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	Your Score
6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 88 Ratings

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Wet Hot American Summer

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Movie Details & Credits

USA Films | Release Date: July 27, 2001 | R

Starring: David Hyde Pierce, Janeane Garofalo

Summary: 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)

Director: David Wain

Genre(s): Comedy, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 97 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

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

Dennis Harvey

Nearly half over before it finds a consistent groove, let alone a decent hit-to-miss joke ratio. Read full review

Manohla Dargis

Like, you know, genius. But, like, you know, why? Read full review

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

Claudia Plig

The writing here is rarely funny, and often trite and predictable. A couple of scenes are downright disturbing: Read full review

Michael Atkinson

The film exists in a humid meta-movie ether all its own. Read full review

Stephen Hunter

This is supposed to be funny? It was so depressing I almost started to cry. Read full review

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User Reviews

DaveP.

Mar 13, 2002

Wet Hot American Summer is the only movie of its type...plain and simple. This movie fools you with the first 25 minutes to make you believe it is actually just a somewhat sly parody. [***Ed: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD***] Then it drowns its first kid. Kills him. Then, we see the camp Wet Hot American Summer is the only movie of its type...plain and simple. This movie fools you with the first 25 minutes to make you believe it is actually just a somewhat sly parody. [***Ed: POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD***] Then it drowns its first kid. Kills him. Then, we see the camp counselers go to the city to find a library, who then start smoking joints, beating up old ladies and taking their purses, and then becoming heroin-addict prostitutes at the local crack house. Then, another kid drowns, and we have bizarre romantic chemistry between a 9 year old kid and a 35 year old art teacher, as the boy is trying to console the teacher's recent divorce. There is a graphic homosex scene at one point, and also features lines of dialogues about Dungeons and Dragons, Pubic lice, and astrophysics. Featuring perhaps the best talent show sequence in the history of film, this perhaps should go down in history as being the best film to see with a roomful of male college buddies. If you're a fan of Upright Citizen's Brigade and The State, this is the movie for you. Totally awesome.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Dampweazil

Feb 20, 2012

If you don't like this movie, then you must be the most suffocatingly
boring person ever. You must suck so bad that your mom punches herself
in the face every day to atone for giving birth to you. People who don't like this movie likely get a huge stiffy thinking about tax season andIf you don't like this movie, then you must be the most suffocatingly
boring person ever. You must suck so bad that your mom punches herself
in the face every day to atone for giving birth to you. People who
don't like this movie likely get a huge stiffy thinking about tax
season and professional golf. I hope all you haters severely burn the
roofs of your mouths.

Everyone should watch this movie. Period. Awesome throwback flick with
a great cast. Crass, goofy, slapstick, you name it, this flick has it.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

PeteW.

Dec 12, 2005

This film is heavy.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

BradH.

Aug 2, 2007

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 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!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

TheDude-

Aug 12, 2015

Wet hot American summer is one of the most underrated films of all time it has some of the most memorable characters ever put to screen and the jokes of course are hilarious it deserves the cult status and Netflix follow up prequel series it has received.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DeronW.

Jul 18, 2009

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 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.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

FeeThinker

Aug 5, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Even if it has a pretty good start , writing and plot gets stupider with every minute. The Last half hour is a totally unwatchable crap of nonsensical desperate gags that don't even make any single sense ( like two counselor running around the infirmary breaking stuff with no apparent logical reason , a divorced inept art teacher who ends up dating a minor and everyone celebrates it , a group of "mad scientists" kids who changes the collision course of a space lab part with machine made out of kitchen goods and such law-of-physics-defying space lab part that creshes without neither being a fireball of melted metal or generating a 10 km fatal blast radius ).… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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64	#64 Most Discussed Movie of 2001
24	#24 Most Shared Movie of 2001