Can't Hardly Wait

1998 "Yesterday's history. Tomorrow's the future. Tonight's the party."
6.5| 1h40m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 12 June 1998 Released
Producted By: Columbia Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

It's graduation day at Huntington Hills High, and you know what that means - time to party. And not just any party, either. This one will be a night to remember, as the nerds become studs, the jocks are humiliated, and freshman crushes blossom into grown-up romance.

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Reviews

VanPyree Just like all the others, this is a high-school movie about one last party of sorts before college. A few clichéd characters, some pre-frat-boys doing what frat boys do, geeks geeking around, some school-spirit girl trying to get folks to sign her yearbook, outsiders doing their own thing and it's mostly love stories.This was a pretty common genre back in the day and it was near peak saturation. I rewatched this film with a clean palette, but it's just not that good. It's not that bad either, but there are very few redeeming qualities about it, other than perhaps a "before they were famous" look-back through this yearbook of a movie. You also get to see peak Jennifer Love Hewitt at the peak of her fame.There's nothing interesting about the story that hasn't been said and done before. There's no deeper meaning to the film, no subtleties, no mysteries, no reason to see it twice, maybe not even worth watching once or paying attention while watching. There's no interesting story-telling technique, no camera tricks or cinematography. The music is just a playlist of whatever was popular back then, Third Eye Blind, White Zombie, Creed among others. It's only interesting as a snapshot of the late 90's. It captured the spirit of the 90's, the youth culture, the movie culture, the fashion and the language. Other than that, this is a 6/10 film at best.
estebangonzalez10 "Don't look back. You should never look back."There is a scene during the movie where someone spray painted "This Party Sucked" on the door, and I guess that the same thing can be said about this predictable and formulaic teen comedy that tries way too hard to capture the spirit of former John Hughes' comedies from the 80's. Perhaps it is my fault that I just got around watching this film now, but if that is the case all I can say is that it hasn't aged well considering many films since have done a much better job at delivering laughs and breaking genre conventions. Can't Hardly Wait is completely predictable from start to finish and the characters all fall flat despite some charismatic performances from the cast. The script may be the biggest disappointment because the characters aren't given anything interesting to say and they all play generic characters. This was Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan's first feature film as directors, and they only went on to direct one other movie together (Josie and the Pussycats). Can't Hardly Wait was received quite well in the late 90's, but I can't see its appeal. It feels like a generic teen comedy about teenagers partying after graduation. They all promise to be memorable, but in the end everything that goes on in the party is completely predictable. There are fun moments, but the film never justifies it 100 minute runtime. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays the girl everyone in school loves and admires, but she has recently been dumped by her boyfriend, played by Peter Facinelli, who wants to move on and meet college girls now. Their breakup is the talk of the school, and Ethan Embry's Preston believes fate has given him another shot to talk to the girl of his dreams. Preston has always been in love with Amanda (Hewitt), but she doesn't even know of his existence. We find out about his secret crush for Amanda through his best friend, Denise (Lauren Ambrose), who he confides in. Other people we meet at the party are the classic characters we've seen in many other 80's and 90's teen comedies: some of the hot shot athletes who are best friends with Mike (Facinelli), their gorgeous girlfriends who are part of Amanda's group, the rockstar wannabes, and the nerds who want to avenge all the years of bullying they've endured. Charlie Korsmo gives one of the most funny performances as this nerd who after drinking a bit too much becomes the sensation of the party. There is also a side plot involving Denise getting locked up in the bathroom with Kenny Fisher (Seth Green), someone who she shared a past with but hasn't been in contact since. Locked up together in the bathroom seems like a good way to dig up the past and they both open up with each other. The side stories and secondary characters are actually more interesting than the actual main plot involving Hewitt and Embry's relationship and that is what ultimately hurt the film for me. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/
edwagreen Those who make these ridiculous teen-age pictures which is supposed to show the coming of age after high school graduation do a disservice to the youth out there. High school is shown as one big preparation to graduate and drink the night away and that college shall be a 24/7 non-stop continuation of this.As in all these type of films, we have an assortment of characters where Joe College usually winds up behind the egg-ball at film's end and love is realized by others.Enough of the wild parties at a graduate's home. How convenient that the parents aren't home.These pictures really lack substance when you think about it.
Chrysanthepop 'Can't Hardly Wait' has nostalgic value for me and it is a really fun film. While it sort of centres around the Ethan Embry-Jennifer Love Hewitt romantic track. It is really the surroundings that are the major treat of this film. You'll see a host of upcoming talented actors, like Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, Selma Blair, Clea Duvall, Seth Peterson, Jason Segel, Erik Palladino, Jaime Pressly, Sara Rue, Jenna Elfman, Melissa Joan Heart, Leslie Grossman and Donald Faison, either in supporting roles or making funny appearances by playing colourful characters. It's interesting to see the progress they made as actors over the year. Elfont and Kaplan's writing is amusing. The movie has plenty of slapstick and the jokes work brilliantly. Of the main cast, Embry and Love Hewitt are good but it is Lauren Ambrose, Charlie Korsmo and Seth Green who steal the show. I personally prefer 'Can't Hardly Wait' much more to overrated rubbish like 'American Pie', 'Ten Things I Hate About You', 'Never Been Kissed', 'Superbad' etc.