1 April 2005

Review: Wet Hot American Summer (2/5)

This was an incredibly uneven comedy with some hilarious scenes, but it completely falls apart at the end. And in some places in the middle. And the beginning. But for a weekend afternoon flick, you could do worse. The skits that don't degrade into bad SNL territory (if one could find good SNL territory) have a surprising mania about them.

The gag is that this is a teen summer camp movie making fun of teen summer camp movies. In one scene, a counselor gives a rousing speech to the plucky softball team suggesting that they suffer through their inabilities throughout the game and come up with a rule-breaking, wacky play in the last few seconds. After one of the kids suggests that the plan sounds a little hackneyed, everyone agrees and they decide to forfeit the game. End scene. This approach works with great effect at times and goes horribly stupid at others. Spoofing an already lighthearted genre leave little room for error.

[ posted by sstrader on 1 April 2005 at 11:39:14 AM in Cinema ]