"EVERYBODY KNOWS TODAY IS THE CULMINATING, CLIMACTIC GAME AGAINST EVIL CAMP TIGERCLAW. WE'VE PUT TOGETHER AN UNLIKELY TEAM OF MISFITS, AND WE'VE BEEN TRAINING LIKE CRAZY ALL SUMMER. YES, WE'VE PUT TOGETHER A MOTLEY CREW YOU'D NEVER THINK WOULD BE ABLE TO WIN A SINGLE GAME. WE HAD A KOOKY TRAINING PERIOD WHERE IT SEEMED LIKE, WELL IT SEEMED LIKE NOTHING WAS GOING TO GO RIGHT, BUT GUYS, SOMEHOW WE MADE IT TO THE FINALS. SO I SAY, WHEN THOSE ANONYMOUSLY EVIL CAMPERS FROM TIGERCLAW GET HERE, WE GIVE IT OUR BEST SHOT, THEN WE TRY TO COME FROM BEHIND AT THE LAST MINUTE WITH SOME WEIRD TRICK PLAY THAT WE'VE MADE UP, AND WE WIN THE GAME! WHAT DO YOU SAY, TEAM?" Do I like the movie Wet Hot American Summer? Hell, yeah. A lot.
Do I like it enough to enter a contest where I'm dressed like one of the characters? Um, no. But if you're ever in the mood for a mood-perfect parody of early 1980s summer camp movie cliches, with some absolutely priceless scenes (the trip to town, everything with Amy Poehler or Michael Showalter), then it's worth the rental.
(If you get the DVD, be sure to catch the deleted scene where Paul Rudd and Marguerite Moreau recreate, line for line, move for move, the Donald Sutherland-Karen Allen sweater scene from Animal House).
Most critics missed the point, treating it as a straight, crappy movie rather than a witty, loving homage to a specific subset of crappy movies. I think you have to be between the ages of 25 and 35 to really get it -- but if you're in the target group and saw the movies it's referencing, this is one you'll want to seek out.
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