The One That Got Away...

There are some movies that come out of left field. You know the ones that you’ve heard nothing but terrible things about so you opt to avoid them. Once in awhile, you discover a gem, and feel proud for taking the chance it deserved upon initial release. Very rarely do I feel the need to proclaim a film as a comedic masterpiece, one that demands attention, perhaps a cult following on video, and that film is “Wet Hot American Summer.” This is quite simply the best comedy I have seen since 1996’s “Kingpin.”

I had no real idea what to expect, and I managed to avoid reviews of it before checking it out. I knew that I loved the cast as well as the creator’s background (they helped conceive the hysterical MTV sketch-comedy “The State.”) Anyone who knows me certainly can attest to the fact that I have an off-key, very askew sense of humor. One that veers off from unusual places, derived from a combination of wits, smarts, and the occasional perverted pun. In other words, it takes a lot for me to laugh. I couldn’t crack a smile even once during the slopfest “Slackers,” easily the worst film of 2002 year so far. I guess I demand too much from a comedy, and I’m one of those cats who won’t laugh at just anything. It has to hit me, usually out of nowhere, from shock value, or the sheer frustration “God, I wish I would’ve written that.” My favorite work is early Mel Brooks, Albert Brooks, early Zucker Brothers, and The Kids In The Hall. So I guess you could say that I am huge fan of satire, and parody, when it’s done cleverly and not just for stupid, sick exploitative reasons. (Although that can be fun when I’m in the right mood, too).

”Wet Hot American Summer” is just too damn funny for its own good and this is thanks to extraordinarily talented cast. Janeane Garofalo, David-Hyde Pierce are the bigger names, and they certainly stand out amongst the players, but each and every performer is immaculate in every way. After viewing it, I simply had to go back and check out some old reviews, most of which said that the laughs were scattershot at best. (This is one of those times when I’d say, “they just don’t get it!”) For me, everything worked. Their target is certainly an uncomplicated one, a genre that may be a stupid parody in itself: the idiotic teenage sex comedies that range from “Fast Food, Porky’s, Meatballs, Hot Dog: The Movie,” and thousands of others. (In the back of my mind, I was even thinking about that horrid 1985 camp comedy starring Michael J. Fox, “Poison Ivy,” not to be confused with the Drew Barrymore skin-flick). But “WHAS” isn’t even a full-out parody. It’s ingenious in its eccentricity, for it manages to be strangely in tune with the conventions of all the dumb sex comedies. It exaggerates to the tenth power all the idiocy of those films, and they nail it from the stereotypes to the convoluted, ridiculous plotline. And yet it has an modern edge of its own, one that made me laugh harder than any film of recent memory. Not since “Top Secret” has there been a delectable feast of strange, offbeat, off-the-wall humor, ripe with the occasional body part joke. But it’s NOT anywhere near the nadir of something like “Scary Movie 2” which does nothing but attempt to shock and disturb you. It does something more, for you actually identify with the characters a bit. Unlike the morons in the recent plague of sex comedies, these chararcters are memorable, and the moments that include them stand out. (Ones I wouldn’t dream of giving away).

If you’ve ever stayed up late as a kid and snuck downstairs to watch a cable comedy like “Meatballs III” then there’s no doubt that “WHAS” will strike a chord and bring you back. What makes “WHAS” such a standout in my mind, is the fact that it knows its target so well, and by the very final act I couldn’t stop laughing. I recognize the lame character transformation sequence, or the “oh-my-God-what-do-we-do!” or the unbearably hysterical montage where they get away from camp and “go into town.”
It’s clearly got a bizarre edge to it, and that’s what appeals to me. Have you ever seen a movie that sets aim on a particular genre, hits the target dead-on, and manages to be original and startlingly shocking at times? Not since the heyday of the Zucker Brothers or the overlooked Farrelly Brothers masterpiece “Kingpin.” These are films that create immortal characters, and they don’t stray far from their subject matter. (Unlike a film like “Scary Movie 2” that goes from satirizing “The Haunting” to a John Woo movie!).
It simply gets so out-of-hand, so ridiculous, that I couldn’t help but go with it. “Slackers” is a comedy that’s unfocused, a sick chaotic mess of a movie, trying to be both a sick sex comedy, as well as a plausible teen movie when the romance factor kicks in. “WHAS” has one fart joke, and it stands out because of that, and evokes genuine laughter.

In the end, “WHAS” makes no apologies; it just goes above and beyond the call of duty. Simply put, if my funny bone was tickled any harder, then I’d more than likely need surgery. I urge anyone who wants a reminder as to how a great comedy SHOULD be in this day and age, seek it out, rent it this weekend, and don’t forget to eat your canned vegetables.

GRADE: A+
Now Number 8 on my top ten list for 2001.