Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

Why so much hype?

Thanks for the memories!

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This mostly takes place at a huge party thrown for a bunch of kids after they graduate from high school. The movie focuses on a few of them. Amanda (Jennifer Love-Hewitt) and Mike (Peter Facinelli) have been together since 9th grade but break up just before graduation. This gives nice guy Preston (Ethan Embry) a shot at her--but he's going away the next day. He also has a perpetually depressed friend Denise (Lauren Ambrose). Then there's William (Charlie Korsmo) a super nerd who has always been tormented by Mike--and plans to take his revenge at the party. Then there's Ken (Seth Green) a white boy who likes to pretend he's black.This got good reviews when it came out and it's easy to see why. It's a surprisingly fun teen movie. It's colorful, has a great soundtrack and a very fun and witty script. There's also good acting by the entire cast and it's fun to see what some of these people went on to do. Love-Hewitt, Facinelli and Embry are still going strong. Also there's an uncredited appearance by Jenna Elfman. A fun, enjoyable teen movie.

"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/

Can't Hardly Wait is a high school comedy that takes place mostly at a graduation party, in which some guy falls in love with Jennifer Love Hewitt and is trying to tell her what he thinks about her since she just broke up with her boyfriend.This movie has all the high school clichés: the jock, the cheerleader, the "better than everybody else", the nerds, the white dude who thinks he's black, the popular kids and more. And it works for some of the movie, I just didn't find it nearly as funny as it was trying to be.Can't Hardly Wait probably gets more credit in pop culture than it should, cause, even if it's funny, it's just not that funny.

The high school seniors have just graduated, and they're having a blowout final party. Preston Meyers (Ethan Embry) is hopelessly infatuated with Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt). When she's dumped by her douche jock boyfriend Mike Dexter (Mike Dexter), Preston can't hardly wait to proclaim his love for Amanda.It's nice to see some familiar faces when they were young. Ethan Embry does a pretty amiable teen. Jennifer Love Hewitt does this hurt face throughout the movie. She's hurt by the break up. She's hurt by the douche boyfriend's attitude. Then she goes nuclear on everybody. The best has to be perpetually short-tempered outsider Lauren Ambrose, and the over-compensating Seth Green. However it's all too familiar. In the end, it's hard to see what Preston actually sees in Amanda other than an object on an unachievable pedestal. Does he really know her? She doesn't even know who his name. They probably never had two words together.