Can't Hardly Wait (B+ or 3/4 stars)
Writer/directors Harry Elfont & Deborah Kaplan's 1998 teen comedy romance 'Can't Hardly Wait' focuses on a plethora of diverse high-schoolers on the last night before graduation who are looking to party, looking to hook up, looking for revenge, looking to mend fences, & looking to make connections before it may be too late. This film aims to recapture the mood of a John Hughes 1980s teen comedy the likes of The Breakfast Club or Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Critics will tell you that this film is a shadow of those prior two. But for me, someone who was 18 years old and 2 weeks away from high school graduation when this movie came out, I'll feel a natural inclination to jive with this film & all of its pop culture sensibilities more so.
The characters are 2-dimensional stereotypes, but each actor injects their role with their own flair. Everything in 'Can't Hardly Wait' transpires during the course of the all-night party the day before graduation. The summer is just starting, and the graduating seniors of Huntington Hills High School are ready to get drunk & get some nookie. The main story focuses on Preston Meyers (puppy dog-like Ethan Embry), an aspiring writer & lovestruck teen who has spent the last 4 yrs. pining for the beautiful, popular, & seemingly unattainable, Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt). But word has spread like wildfire that Amanda has been dumped by her dumb, jock, long-time boyfriend, Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli). To this, Preston gets very anxious about mustering up the courage to even speak to her.
Meanwhile, class valedictorian, William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo), is hatching a plot with his 2 nerdy buddies to avenge himself upon Mike for years of bullying. Preston's best friend, Denise (Lauren Ambrose), is there to support her buddy, but she can't believe that she has lowered herself to attend this rambunctious, blowout event and, is trying to find some way to fit into a party that is obviously not her scene. Much to her dismay, she finds herself accidentally locked in a bathroom with her ex-childhood friend, Kenny Fisher (Seth Green), a doltish, overconfident weirdo who dresses, acts & talks like a 'homeboy'. And a former grad (Jerry O'Connell) has returned from his 1st year away to bemoan his lack of success with college girls. Mayhem ensues as the evening wears on & the party becomes a social equalizer.
'Can't Hardly Wait' is just a fantastically funny late 90s film for me & my friends to have enjoyed to the fullest. Whether it was nostalgia for graduating at the same time, or liking the main characters, or laughing at the absurdities, or jamming to the great soundtrack {of the times}, we just dug it, and can quote it to this day. While I howled at many a crazy situation {prudes getting drunk, the girl who just wants her yearbook to be signed, a prank gone wrong, etc}, my favorite aspect WAS the saccharine romantic possibilities of the Preston & Amanda will the-or-won't they connect storyline. Ethan Embry & Jennifer Love Hewitt {of I Know What You Did Last Summer fame} are so likeable that it's hard not to root for them.
Lauren Ambrose is excellent as Denise, the enjoyably disgruntled friend of Preston who finds a little romance with nut job, Kenny. She looks down on the people at the party, initially. But by the end, she certainly 'gets down', a bit. She's just a fun character to follow, and the type of friend that we know in life. Another performance I dug was a came from Jenna Elfman as a stripper dressed as an angel, who just happens to appear 'in angelic form' to give some advice to a sorrowful Preston; who thinks his chance at wooing Amanda is shot. I dunno - just enjoyed every stereotype they offered; the geek & his buddies, the popular jocks, the prom queen, the preppies, the introverts, etc. This movie was cute, funny, lightly romantic & highly relatable for me and for those teens who, at the time of the film's release, felt like they're experiencing this type of plot in real time ... in real life.
The characters are 2-dimensional stereotypes, but each actor injects their role with their own flair. Everything in 'Can't Hardly Wait' transpires during the course of the all-night party the day before graduation. The summer is just starting, and the graduating seniors of Huntington Hills High School are ready to get drunk & get some nookie. The main story focuses on Preston Meyers (puppy dog-like Ethan Embry), an aspiring writer & lovestruck teen who has spent the last 4 yrs. pining for the beautiful, popular, & seemingly unattainable, Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt). But word has spread like wildfire that Amanda has been dumped by her dumb, jock, long-time boyfriend, Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli). To this, Preston gets very anxious about mustering up the courage to even speak to her.
Meanwhile, class valedictorian, William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo), is hatching a plot with his 2 nerdy buddies to avenge himself upon Mike for years of bullying. Preston's best friend, Denise (Lauren Ambrose), is there to support her buddy, but she can't believe that she has lowered herself to attend this rambunctious, blowout event and, is trying to find some way to fit into a party that is obviously not her scene. Much to her dismay, she finds herself accidentally locked in a bathroom with her ex-childhood friend, Kenny Fisher (Seth Green), a doltish, overconfident weirdo who dresses, acts & talks like a 'homeboy'. And a former grad (Jerry O'Connell) has returned from his 1st year away to bemoan his lack of success with college girls. Mayhem ensues as the evening wears on & the party becomes a social equalizer.
'Can't Hardly Wait' is just a fantastically funny late 90s film for me & my friends to have enjoyed to the fullest. Whether it was nostalgia for graduating at the same time, or liking the main characters, or laughing at the absurdities, or jamming to the great soundtrack {of the times}, we just dug it, and can quote it to this day. While I howled at many a crazy situation {prudes getting drunk, the girl who just wants her yearbook to be signed, a prank gone wrong, etc}, my favorite aspect WAS the saccharine romantic possibilities of the Preston & Amanda will the-or-won't they connect storyline. Ethan Embry & Jennifer Love Hewitt {of I Know What You Did Last Summer fame} are so likeable that it's hard not to root for them.
Lauren Ambrose is excellent as Denise, the enjoyably disgruntled friend of Preston who finds a little romance with nut job, Kenny. She looks down on the people at the party, initially. But by the end, she certainly 'gets down', a bit. She's just a fun character to follow, and the type of friend that we know in life. Another performance I dug was a came from Jenna Elfman as a stripper dressed as an angel, who just happens to appear 'in angelic form' to give some advice to a sorrowful Preston; who thinks his chance at wooing Amanda is shot. I dunno - just enjoyed every stereotype they offered; the geek & his buddies, the popular jocks, the prom queen, the preppies, the introverts, etc. This movie was cute, funny, lightly romantic & highly relatable for me and for those teens who, at the time of the film's release, felt like they're experiencing this type of plot in real time ... in real life.