Ruth Buzzi Better Watch Her Back

The most successful comedies of all time tend to be those which spend a lot of effort on making sure that everyone will enjoy them. Whether your eight or eighty, you'll enjoy about 20% of the jokes which make everyone happy and keep them that way. But what happens when a movie shrugs off this "please everyone" idea and focuses purely on one style of humor? Wet Hot American Summer, directed by David Wain with the help of writer Michael Showalter, have made one of the funniest movies I have ever seen by focusing on their bizarre sense of humor and destroying all the rules of what makes a movie a movie.

I was astounded the first time I saw this movie (about a week and a half ago) and between then and now I've rewatched it about five times (I know most of the lines now, but it's still just as funny). It has that rewatchable quality that Simpsons episode reruns possess, where you can watch them ad nausea and still enjoy them as much as the first time you saw them, even though you know the lines and the plot like the back of your hand. What I'm trying to say is that I can identify with the humor in Wet Hot American Summer, and because of this every single line and action is a pleasure to hear and watch. Others may not be able to appreciate this because the humor is so abstract and the spoofing is so absolute in the film, but if you enjoy the type of humor that can be seen on The Simpsons, any Kevin Smith projects, or Kids in the Hall, you should love this film.

The plot is based on the events that transpire on the last day of summer at Camp Firewood, where all the counselors tend to be sex-crazed maniacs with zany personalities. I guess the main character is the goofy Coop (played by writer Michael Showalter) who is falling in love with hot Katie (Marguerite Moreau). Events between the two are complicated though, because of Katie's rebel-without-a-brain boyfriend Andy (Paul Rudd), who is cheating on her with Susie(Amy Poehler). At the same time, camp director Beth (Janeane Garofalo) is pursuing a romance with the awkward astrophysicist Henry (David Hyde Pierce). Victor (Kern Marino) is meanwhile torn between his duty to take some kids boating with Neil (Joe Lo Truglio) and spending the night with the camp bicycle Abby (Marisa Ryan). J.J. (Zak Orth) and Gary (A.D. Miles) try to get there friend McKinley (Michael Ian Black) laid, but they soon discover that he's gay with Ben (Bradley Cooper). Emotionally unstable Gail (Molly Shannon) tries to cope with her marital woes and turns to her kids for counseling, especially Aaron (Gideon Jacobs). Most interesting of all though, is the cook Gene (Christopher Meloni) who has been horribly warped because he served in the Vietnam war, but he finds solace in his friend which happens to be a can of mixed vegetables. All these things happen in a matter of a day, and they're all resolved one way or another by the time the big talent show comes around in the evening.

There are many highlights in this film, and the ones that stand out are fantastic. When Victor is chased by Neil on a motorcycle a great chase spoof occurs, which involves slow motion shots of Victor jumping over hay trussels. As well, the "new way" scene where Gene trains Coop for absolutely no reason is great. In fact, any scene with Gene is fantastic. Also notable is the chemistry between Janeane Garofalo and David Hyde Pierce, or should I was anti-chemistry. They seem so awkward together that they enhance each other comedic performances to the point of near hysteria. The movie is filled with brilliant humor that, by the end of the film, starts spoofing the entire idea of making a movie. What I mean is if you watch the movie closely, you'll be able to catch some inconsistencies that were purposely created to just make the movie more unpredictable.

I love this movie, and to me it's a five star film. However, the movie only focuses on being funny to one target group and it leaves a lot of fans saying "what the hell?" because they don't understand the jokes or they simply don't find them that funny. I still think that most people would really enjoy the film because it's screenplay is magnificent, the characters are all of a superb and zany quality, and you can tell that all parties involved had a lot of fun making this film. I recommend this movie to all people who have a sense of humor that is a little bit bizarre, because I guarantee that this movie will cast at least a level five charm spell on you.

Here's a clue: one of the campers who goes by the title of ‘Caped Boy’ is obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons ;-)