Bold Early Reviews, but Modest Rollout

David Wain, who directed the new summer-camp spoof “Wet Hot American Summer,” has to be pleased with some of the early reviews of his R-rated comedy. Newsweek, for example, calls it a “gloriously silly romp,” while New York’s Newsday describes it as “a ‘Meatballs’ for the post-millennium.”

But Wain can only sit back and hope that the distributor, USA Films, knows what it’s doing when it comes to marketing and distributing the movie. There are no TV ads for the film, and USA Films is rolling out the movie in dribs and drabs in selected U.S. cities.

It reaches Los Angeles Friday, when it opens at the AMC in Santa Monica.

What’s with the low-key approach?

“I think, honestly, it’s because USA Films wasn’t sure [if audiences] would like it or not,” Wain says. “They didn’t want to take a big risk with it, but now they are seeing people want to see it.”

But Steven Flynn, USA Films’ executive vice president of marketing, defends the marketing and release schedule, pointing out that the film is a “smart comedy” aimed more at the generation that came of age in the ‘80s than a younger crowd.

“It’s not what I would call real mainstream like ‘American Pie 2,”’ Flynn explains. “It’s aimed at a target demographic--baby boomers--those people who remember going to camp during the ‘80s. It’s not the typical 12-to-24 young kid that is going to see it.”

Why no commercials? In the Los Angeles market alone, Flynn notes, it would take $300,000 to $400,000 to buy enough TV spots “just to get some attention.”

“Unless you can really reach a target demo, you are wasting a lot of money,” he says.

Written by Wain and Michael Showalter, the creators of MTV’s sketch-comedy group the Slate, “Wet Hot American Summer” stars Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd and Molly Shannon.

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Compiled by Times staff writers