Wet Hot American Summer is a brainy spoof of those popular bawdy teen sex romps from the late '70s and early '80s. Set at a summer camp full of horny counselors, Summer is too smart to simply be a send-up of Meatballs or Porky's. This isn't Not Another Teen Movie – it's got brains and a bit of heart, as well.

Anyone familiar with MTV's short-lived but extremely funny sketch comedy show called The State (circa the Real World season with Puck) should turn out in droves, as the film's creators were all members of that comedy troupe (most of the other members appear in the film, too). Fans of that show will certainly dig the way screenwriters David Wain (he directs, as well) and Michael Showalter approach their story, which plays like an after-school special crossed with the worst sitcom imaginable (even worse than Emeril!). Then again, Summer’s humor may be lost on viewers who didn't go to summer camp, or who are not steeped in the tradition of those teen sex romps. Those non-Gen-X outsiders might mistake the deadpan, ironic humor for utter stupidity. Admittedly, it's probably a very fine line.

Set in August 1981, on the last day of the season for Camp Firewood in Waterville, Maine, Summer is comprised of a series of stories that are barely fleshed out enough to be successful comedy skits. Wain haphazardly shuffles back and forth between these with little thought, which makes it all seem even more like the films Summer is sending up (the bad haircuts and disturbingly short shorts help foster the illusion). Since it's the last day of summer, the characters all seem desperate to accomplish something, whether it's pulling off a successful camp talent show or getting laid.

Janeane Garofalo plays shy camp director Beth, who can't pronounce the names of her largely Jewish charges, but does manage to fall for nearby vacationing astrophysics professor Henry (David Hyde Pierce), whose recent calculations have determined NASA's Skylab will most definitely crash into Camp Firewood. Showalter is Coop, the nerdy counselor with a crush on cute Katie (Marguerite Moreau), who is involved with self-centered prick Andy (Paul Rudd). Molly Shannon is Gail, the recently divorced arts-and-crafts teacher who frightens her tutelage with scary diatribes on men. Christopher Meloni is the camp's cook who thrills (and disturbs) everyone with stories of being in the shit in Nam. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, especially when it comes to the film's sexual hijinks. Each actor plays their role straight, as though Summer was a contender in this year’s Oscar race. It’s nice to see an ensemble comedy where the stars aren’t trying to outdo each other via outrageously over-the-top performances.

1:37 -

for strong sexual content, language and a drug sequence