Can't Hardly Wait


Can't Hardly Wait is a 1998 American teen romantic comedy film written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars an ensemble cast including Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, and is notable for a number of "before-they-were-famous" appearances by teen stars. The story takes place at a high school graduation party.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. It grossed a total of $25 million at the North American domestic box office, against a production budget of $10 million. The soundtrack peaked at number 25 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Concept

The story takes place at a high school graduation party and in a style much like that of the high school movies of the 1980s. The filmmakers were inspired by their observation that in most teen films the best scenes were the party scenes, and decided to make a movie set entirely at a party. Though the film deals in common high school stereotypes, some favor its chaotic but appealing mise-en-scène and performances.
The film takes its name from The Replacements' song of the same title, from their 1987 album Pleased to Meet Me, which plays over the film's closing credits.

Plot

The senior class of a suburban high school, Huntington Hillside, are attending a graduation party at a large house owned by a rich class member's family. Among them are Preston Meyers a nerdy outsider, who plans to proclaim his love to his four-year secret crush Amanda Beckett. Amanda, the most popular girl in school and the senior class prom queen, has recently been dumped by her popular jock boyfriend Mike Dexter. Mike is targeted by nerd classmate William Lichter, who is plotting revenge against him for years of bullying. Preston's antisocial best friend Denise Fleming has no intention of going to the party but is dragged along by Preston. Kenny Fisher is a wannabe thug who plans on losing his virginity by the end of the night.
Amanda is consoled by her popular girlfriends, whom she realizes she has nothing in common with, and her own second-cousin, who tries to hit on her. She tries to figure out if she has an identity beyond "Mike Dexter's girlfriend". She discovers a letter addressed to her by Preston and, moved by its contents, makes it her mission to find him, but she doesn't know what he looks like and no one she asks gives any helpful descriptions. Meanwhile, Denise and Kenny end up getting locked inside a bathroom, where they talk about their old friendship and how they had drifted apart; their conversation leads to the restoration of their friendship and escalates into them having sex.
Later, an intoxicated Mike learns from Trip McNeely—a graduate and former stud from his high school—that in college, guys like them are "a dime a dozen". Trip emphasizes how he dumped his girlfriend in the same fashion that Mike did to score with women and was unsuccessful. Terrified, Mike tries to get Amanda back, but she is happier without him and humiliates him in front of everyone at the party. Preston finds Amanda and confesses his love, but she assumes he is another pervert and rejects him in front of the entire class. She later realizes her mistake when she sees Preston's yearbook picture and tries to find him, but he has driven home.
At the same time, William devises his plan to get revenge on Mike and goes into the party to drive Mike out. While inside the party, William begins drinking alcohol to fit in, and drinks enough to make him forget what he is doing there. An impromptu sing-along to Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" causes him to become popular. William begins talking with Mike, who apologizes for bullying him. William forgives him, and the two seemingly become friends. When Mike and William are jailed as a result of a police bust, Mike takes the blame.
The next morning, when William sees Mike and some of his friends at a diner, he tries to thank Mike for taking the fall. But Mike acts as though he remembers nothing that happened the previous night and ridicules William in front of his friends. Preston is at a railway station, about to leave for Boston, when Amanda arrives and asks him about the letter. Preston confesses he wrote it and is about to depart for a writing workshop with Kurt Vonnegut. The two say goodbye, but soon, Preston stops and runs back to Amanda, and they kiss.
As the film ends, the characters' fates are revealed:

Uncredited appearances

The script for Can't Hardly Wait was originally written in 1996, by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan who were looking for a project they could develop and direct themselves on a limited budget. The project was approved by Columbia Pictures in mid-1997, following the success of teen-oriented horror film Scream in early 1997. Principal photography for Can't Hardly Wait started in October 1997, and ran for 26 days. Jennifer Love Hewitt was known for Party of Five when she signed on to the film, and appeared in the slasher hit I Know What You Did Last Summer, which helped to further raise her profile. According to Charlie Korsmo, Adam Hann-Byrd was originally cast as William Lichter.
The cast had a week of rehearsals before filming.
The film initially received an R-Rating due to MPAA objections about the depiction of teens drinking alcohol at an unsupervised party and drug use. The film was recut to receive a PG-13 rating.

Reception

Box office

Can't Hardly Wait was released on June 12, 1998, and grossed $8,025,910 in its opening weekend. Its total domestic gross was $25,605,015, more than double its production budget.

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 42% based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 5.18/10. The site's consensus reads, "Occasionally clever and moderately intelligent, Can't Hardly Wait also contains too many cheap laughs, recycled plotting, and flat characters". On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 52% based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "For all its nonstop energy and high spirits, Can't Hardly Wait allows its characters to emerge as fully dimensional individuals; they've been written with care and perception and played with equal aplomb by a roster of talented young actors".
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Can't Hardly Wait has freshness, comic invention and an engaging romantic spirit."
Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club wrote: "But the film deserves credit, both for its breezy pacing and its uncommon tendency to make its characters smarter and geekier than they might have been."
Emanuel Levy of Variety called the film: "A mediocre attempt to recapture the exuberance and candid portraiture of such high school movie classics as "American Graffiti," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Dazed and Confused."" Levy praised the cast but was critical of the "uneven script and rough direction".
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, and wrote: "The kind of movie that somehow succeeds in moving very, very slowly even while proceeding at a breakneck pace. It cuts quickly back and forth between nothing and nothing... It doesn't have the zing of life and subversion that the best high school movies always have."

Awards

In 2012, Entertainment Weekly ranked Can't Hardly Wait number 44 on its list of the 50 Best High School Movies of all time.

Sequel

On May 25, 2019, on Danny Pellegrino's "Everything Iconic" podcast - Jennifer Love Hewitt revealed that she is developing Can't Hardly Wait 2 with plans to direct it herself. The concept revolves around the reunion of the original high school gang from the 1998 film.

Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD on November 17, 1998. On September 30, 2008, it was re-released on DVD and Blu-ray as the "10 Year Reunion Edition" to commemorate the film's 10th anniversary. The re-release included bonus features not on the original release.

Music

Soundtrack

Can't Hardly Wait: Music From The Motion Picture is the soundtrack of the film which was released on May 26, 1998 by Elektra Records. It peaked at number 25 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Featured music

Other music featured in the movie but not on the soundtrack includes: