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Can't Hardly Wait Play Trailer

Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

tomatometer

42

Average Rating: 5.4/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 7

No consensus yet.

audience

59

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 81,292

My Rating

Movie Info

After the Huntington Hills High graduation ceremony, the fun gets underway at the graduation party where an assortment of jocks, geeks, prom queens, bimbos, headbangers, and nerdy misfits unload four years' worth of emotional baggage at a house where the hostess (Michelle Brookhurst) loses control of her guests. Writer wannabe Preston Meyers (Ethan Embry) has been in love with Amanda (Jennifer Love Hewitt of Party of Five) since the first time he saw her during their freshman year. His tormented

PG-13,

Comedy

,

Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont

Nov 17, 1998

Columbia Pictures

Watch It Now

Cast

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Can't Hardly Wait Trailer & Photos

Critic Reviews for Can't Hardly Wait

All Critics (47) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (27) | DVD (15)

A high-spirited, synthetically raucous house-party comedy.

August 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's not supposed to be a revelation--just a pleasant rendition of a teen-comedy trope.

August 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

John Hughes must be spinning in his grave.

August 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A failed attempt to recapture the exuberant magic of such highschool movie classics as American Graffiti, this is a loud and boisterous comedy, in which the entire action is set during an interminably long graduation night.

May 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment (1)
Emanuel Levy
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Manages to serve up new rock, eighties dance music, rap and Barry Manilow -- a combination custom-made to annoy audiences of all ages.

April 12, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic IconTop Critic

With summer vacation imminent, its arrival is an instance of perfect timing.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Boozy party movie where losing inhibitions pays off.

December 15, 2009 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Joly Herman
Common Sense Media

A surprisingly sweet teen comedy that keeps the sex under the covers and off-screen, opting instead for a John Hughes-style exploration of the teen world. It's a little more intelligent and a little better than the average teen fare, and in Blu-ray it loo

October 2, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
James Plath
Movie Metropolis

It's all cutely derivative, occasionally charming and very occasionally clever.

August 6, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A decidedly healthy antidote to the hate-driven, ghoulishly cynical bloodlettings of Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and the rest of that sick ilk.

January 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International
David Noh
Film Journal International

There just isn't any sparkle in any of the lead perfs.

April 9, 2005 Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Less of a movie and more a collection of 1980s teen movie cliches.

October 12, 2004 Full Review | Comments (2)
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

This is the kind of pointless teen schlock one sees on USA Up All Night.

February 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Quips Online
John R. McEwen
Film Quips Online
View all critic reviews (47)

Audience Reviews for Can't Hardly Wait

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Decent Teen comedy, but nothing ever great, Can't Hardly Wait is one of those films that could have been better, but still has enough charm to really make it a fun film to watch. The film is quite forgettable, but manages to be fun for the time you're watching it. However it does not stand out among other Teen comedies. Can't Hardly Wait is mindless fun, but lacks anything to really make it memorable. For what it is, it works, but is far from films like Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The film could have been much better and though is fun entertainment, it never becomes anything but mindless and sometimes dull entertainment. I think this film could have been reworked significantly to make it a much better film, and it's a shame that the film is never anything truly good or memorable. The film is simply a decent viewing. The film has some good gags, but most of the time, they fall flat and don't go nowhere. If the script would have been more developed and some parts would have been recast, then maybe this film would have been better. As a whole, the film offered some laughs, but I just felt that the story lacked too much, and really didn't offer anything new to the genre. Despite this fact, this is a fun, mindless film that has its moments despite the fact that it's a decent teen comedy. I didn't hate the film; I just feel it could have been much better. If you're looking a mindless entertaining ride, Can't Hardly Wait is worth seeing, just don't expect anything great with this film. The film does provide good laughs even if it's not a classic by any means.
June 28, 2012
TheDudeLebowski65
Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski

Super Reviewer

Let's face it: though we all grew up with this genre, and love the gems such as Dazed and Confused and 10 Things I Hate About You, there are films trying way too hard. One of these nineties underachievers was Can't Hardly Wait, a title that already exacts a feeling of bland indifference, which is what you feel when you watch it. There are some pretty funny moments, but they're most on account of Seth Green, because he's so pathetically human, and Charlie Korsmo: If his face looks familiar, it's because he played Robin Williams' son in Hook, and strangely puberty has not lent a helping hand. He's the most nerdy, drunken, kooky figure during this intensely raging high school graduation party, and the most enjoyable character of the entire film. Threading through the shifting comedy are the subplots of an unrequited love between nobody Preston (barely showing up onscreen throughout this film) who has, quite literally, no discernible character traits, and a popular girl. We also get an eyeful of a youthful Jennifer Love Hewitt, a pre-Twilight Peter Facinelli, and a long list of cameos, including Selma Blair, Jason Segel, and Melissa Joan Hart as a peppy girl obsessed with everyone signing her yearbook. It didn't make a lot of headway, and was in no way original, but I did really enjoy the side story of Green and Ambrose's characters and their past, though under scrutiny it doesn't make much sense or matter.
July 29, 2010
FrizzDrop
Spencer S.

Super Reviewer

Can't Hardly Wait Quotes

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    1. William: Hey! I know this song. The guy I tutored in math used to make me listen to it.
    – Submitted by Ann A (2 months ago)
    1. Denise: Do you know what your problem is? It's like you're afraid to move forward. Now why do you wanna go to this party tonight and look back? Don't look back. You should never look back.
    – Submitted by Nigel N (11 months ago)

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