Seeing how subjective comedy is, it should come as no surprise that funny movies are far less likely to get the sort of universal accolades that are heaped on more dramatic work. It nevertheless surprises me when certain comedies I love get critical dog-shit thrown at them. When Wet Hot American Summer was released in 2001 it was damn near universally panned. I guess I can theoretically understand why this movie wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. The frequently bizarre jokes in service of a movie spoofing/paying homage to an incredibly specific movie genre can be...fuck it, no, it really fucking baffles me that there exist people who don't find this movie absolutely, gut-bustingly hilarious. You people are wrong.
Luckily, as we all know, Wet Hot American Summer has developed quite a cult following over the years. Perhaps, it's most lasting legacy is the murderer's row of comedic talent it contained: Janeane Garofalo, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, Judah Friedlander, H. Jon Benjamin, and of course State members Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, Ken Marino, and Joe Lo Truglio. Even had this film not had a pitch perfect script, it would have been funny just to see this group of people make it up on the fly.
Each scene in this movie is a perfect comedy nugget. I could have picked any one of a number of scenes from this movie as my favorite. I picked the "going to Waterville" scene, though, mostly because it takes place in my hometown (lord knows it wasn't filmed there, though.). This scene takes the familiar teen movie trope of kids experimenting with drugs and takes it to the logical extreme. And it's all perfectly set against Rick Springfield's "Love is Alright Tonight".
[The scene:]
1 comment:
Plus Bradley Cooper's film debut with a hot sex scene!
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