Can't Hardly Wait

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Can't Hardly Wait
Directed by Harry Elfont
Deborah Kaplan
Produced by Betty Thomas
Jenno Topping
Written by Deborah Kaplan
Harry Elfont
Starring Seth Green
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Ethan Embry
Lauren Ambrose
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) 12 June 1998
Running time 93 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

Can't Hardly Wait is a 1998 romantic teen comedy film directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, and Seth Green.

The movie takes place at a high school graduation party, and in a style much like that of the high school movies of the 1980s. Though the film deals in common high school stereotypes, some favor the film's chaotic but appealing mise en scène and performances.

The movie was named after The Replacements' song of the same title, from their 1987 album Pleased to Meet Me. The song plays at the end of the movie, when the credits start rolling.

The film was heavily cut upon its release (seventeen confirmed changes) to get a PG-13 rating. None of the deleted scenes have since surfaced.

This movie ranked number 44 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.

Tagline: An event 18 years in the making.

Yesterday's history. Tomorrow's the future. Tonight's the party.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film revolves around an eclectic group of students attending a high school graduation party at a large house owned by a rich class member's family. Each character has different plans for the night. Optimistic misfit Preston Myers (Ethan Embry) plans to proclaim his love to his four-year secret crush, to whom he's never had the nerve to speak before, prom queen Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who in turn has recently broken up with her top jock boyfriend, Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli).

Cynical Denise Flemming (Lauren Ambrose) has no intention of going to the party. But when her best friend, Preston, says he's going to proclaim his love for Amanda, she is dragged along. Kenny Fisher (Seth Green) is a ludicrous wannabe rapper who plans on losing his virginity by the end of the night. When he goes into the upstairs bathroom to "get ready", Denise happens to walk in. That is when the pair of former friends learn that the door has a broken doorknob, trapping them in the bathroom. The two begin talking about how they fell apart, which eventually leads them back to their friendship (and sexual relations in the bathroom).

Mike Dexter learns from a graduate and former high school stud that in college, jerks like them are "a dime a dozen" and ironically, find themselves on the receiving end of bullying. He tries to get Amanda back, but she is happier without him. He also tries (unsuccessfully) to talk his jock friends into dumping their girlfriends. At the same time, super-bright William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo) plots his revenge on Mike for ruining his life throughout high school. He has his two even more nerdy, X-Files-obsessed friends wait on the roof, while he goes into the party and to drive Mike out. However, while inside the party, William begins drinking in order to fit in. After a while, he drinks enough to make him forget what he was originally doing there and an impromptu sing-along to Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" causes him to become popular for the evening. William begins talking with Mike, and forgives him for tripping earlier in the day at the graduation ceremony while William was giving the valedictorian speech.

Meanwhile, Preston Myers still longs for Amanda Beckett, and the action relocates to a railway station. Amanda visits Preston at the station where she asks him about the letter. Preston confesses he wrote and that he's about to depart for a pre-college writing workshop. But he immediately stops and finally comes back to Amanda where they kiss.

As the film ends, it ends with the fate of the characters as to what happened to them:

  • Preston and Amanda became a couple, and Amanda wrote him a letter every day while he was away at school.
  • Denise and Kenny broke up at a restaurant, but proceeded to get back together minutes later in the bathroom.
  • Mike went on to college but, after drinking too much, lost his football scholarship. He ended up forty pounds overweight and working at the car wash, a job he lost when incriminating photos appeared.
  • William became one of the most popular students at his school of Harvard. He later went on to open his own computer company that has made him worth millions, and he's dating a supermodel.
  • William's two nerdy friends were abducted by aliens after discussing that they didn't miss anything by not attending the party.

[edit] Cast

Uncredited actors include Melissa Joan Hart and Breckin Meyer, while Jenna Elfman, Marisol Nichols, Selma Blair, and Jerry O'Connell have cameos.

Many other actors from Can't Hardly Wait went on to roles in the HBO series Six Feet Under, Lauren Ambrose (played Claire Fisher, the only daughter of the Fisher family), Freddy Rodriguez (played Federico Diaz, the assistant turned partner at Fisher and Sons [later Fisher and Diaz]), Eric Balfour (played Gabriel Dimas, Claire's high-school boyfriend), and Peter Facinelli (played Jimmy).

Nine actors from Can't Hardly Wait were also on the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including Seth Green (Daniel 'Oz' Osborne), Amber Benson (Tara Maclay), Paige Moss (Veruca), Eric Balfour (Jesse McNally), Channon Roe (Jack O'Toole in "The Zeppo"), Nicole Bilderback (a Cordette in "The Wish"), Clea DuVall (Marcie Ross in "Out of Mind, Out of Sight"), Christopher Wiehl (Owen in "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"), and John Patrick White (Pete in "Beauty and the Beasts"). Amber Benson's scenes in Can't Hardly Wait were deleted, though you can get a very quick glimpse of her in the kitchen when William is going to collect Mike, she is sitting at the kitchen table, staring at a banana.

[edit] Soundtrack

Songs featured on the soundtrack:

  1. "Graduate" by Third Eye Blind
  2. "Can't Get Enough Of You Baby" by Smash Mouth
  3. "Dammit" by Blink 182
  4. "I Walked In" by Brougham
  5. "Turn It Up (remix)/Fire It Up" by Busta Rhymes
  6. "Hit 'Em Wit Da Hee" (remix) by Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott (featuring Lil' Kim and Mocha)
  7. "Swing My Way" (Radio Edit) by K.P. and Envyi
  8. "Flashlight" by Parliament
  9. "It's Tricky" by Run-D.M.C.
  10. "High" by Feeder
  11. "Tell Me What To Say" by Black Lab
  12. "Farther Down" by Matthew Sweet
  13. "Can't Hardly Wait" by The Replacements
  14. "Umbrella" by Dog's Eye View
  15. "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses

Songs featured in the movie but are not on the soundtrack include:

[edit] External links

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