Can't Hardly Wait poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli ... see more see more... , Seth Green , Michelle Brookhurst , Alexander Martin , Erik Palladino , Breckin Meyer , Jerry O'Connell , Sara Rue , Selma Blair , Melissa Joan Hart , Jaime Pressly , Brian Klugman , Chris Owen

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 ... read more read more...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 infatuation with Amanda has intensified throughout high school and culminates at the party, where Preston must now seize this final opportunity to proclaim his love for her before he leaves the next day for Boston. Preston decides to make his move at some point during the party, a particularly auspicious occasion since Amanda has just been dumped by her super-jock boyfriend, Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli), who wanted freedom to pursue his testosterone-charged fantasies with college women. Cringing at this ludicrous love triangle is Preston's introverted pal and confidante, Denise Fleming (Lauren Ambrose). When Denise runs into her ex-childhood friend Kenny (Seth Green), the two begin sexual experimentation behind the closed bathroom door. Geeky science-fiction fan William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo) devises a plan to ruin Mike's stud reputation and publicly humiliate him and his meathead buddies -- sweet revenge for four years of agony. Former Huntington Hills graduate Trip McNieley (Jerry O'Connell) tells Mike about the terror awaiting in college where "Guys like us are a dime a dozen." Yearbook Girl (Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) wants everyone to sign her cherished volume of memories as the partying teens attempt to move into the uncertain future. Party house exteriors were shot on Rubio Street in Altadena, California, and other California locations included Johnnie's Broiler in downtown Downey, Dutton's Book Store in Reseda, Marshall High School in Los Feliz, and Union Station in LA. With more than 70 speaking parts, this film is the directorial debut of the scriptwriting team of Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Flixster Users

59% liked it

80,708 ratings

Critics

44% liked it

45 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont

Release Date: June 12, 1998

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: November 17, 1998

Get It:

Stats: 2,959 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Can't Hardly Wait Seth Green Preston and amanda presten and denise Can't Hardly Wait Can't Hardly Wait
Upload a Photo | View All Can't Hardly Wait Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (2,959)

  • FrizzDrop
    September 6, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    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 indif... read moreference, 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.
  • ajv2688
    August 11, 2011
    ajv2688
    I've seen much better teen films, any 80s teen film for example. This movie has a bunch of bad actors, and it's not funny. I didn't care for it.
  • jennifxu
    May 1, 2011
    jennifxu
    It stagnates quite a bit, and J Lo Hew does pretty much what she always does (stand there), but there were some stories that stood out. Notably the Denise one.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    September 8, 2010
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "I don't know about you, but I really believe that there's one person out there, and for me it's gotta be Amanda."

    Multicharacter teenage comedy about high school graduates with different agenda of life on graduation night.

    ... read more>REVIEW
    This "Animal House" update brings more intelligence, more meaning to a dumb period of college partying. The focus on selected characters and the relationship are both entertaining and enlightening. In addition to the somewhat less raucous but much more intelligent college party - "Can't Hardly Wait" is both a fun movie that balances both dumb antics with meaningful interludes between the characters.

    Seth Green from Buffy the Vampire Slayer offers up a different and rather deeper character demonstrating his flexibility as an actor and Jennifer Love Hewitt portrays a reluctant Prom Queen misunderstood - in an anti-popularity role. The memorable aspect of this movie is in its balanced treatment of the post-high school experience, avoiding the raw, idiotic nonsense of Animal House and bringing a much more rewarding entertaining experience to the audience.
  • Chiefilms
    April 12, 2010
    Chiefilms
    80's teen comedies; Classic. 90's teen comedies: Enjoyable, somewhat memorable. 2000 teen comedies: Hit or miss but mostly miss. Things that I remember from this one: Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth, and the kid from "Hook".
  • ScoopOnline
    December 12, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    I thought this Movie would be funny and all, but after like 30 minuted I thought I cant hardly wait for the end credits, but I quit watching it anyway.
  • matertenebraum
    July 1, 2009
    matertenebraum
    Can't Hardly Wait 1998

    Shown on UK TV recently, it was the first time I saw this, (somehow I managed to miss it first time round). It encompasses so many aspects of a typical end-of-school-party, that there are bound to be a few incidents that anyone can relate to in some way.
    ... read more
    It is a 'teen movie', but not in the normal sense of the word. To begin with, there is actually a semi-decent plot, (ok, a coming of age story), although the best features are really the dialogue and performance by the actors. It feels unusually believable, yet obviously surreal, at the same time. It is sort of a heightened and idealised version of these parties, almost how you would want to remember them, even though things didn't happen quite that way in reality.

    There are some great scenes that put the characters in situations you want to find them in, and the ensuring comedy is great. Also all spectrum's of a year group have tried to have been accommodated, even if they are portrayed in such a pigeon-holed and categorised way. That's half the fun, and you wouldn't watch this thinking it was an intellectually heavy-weight film.

    It is a great deal better and not even comparable with the the American Pie trilogy or other such 'teen films' produced by studios. Increasingly, the intention is to make a non-specific film for teenage audiences, with the idea that ticking all the right boxes, with character representation, will create a success. This is not the case, as good films have an undefinable quality about them, which is natural and not contrived.

    There are occasions when the acting could have been a little better here, (I got the feeling that J-L-Hewitt slipped into monotone a few times), but overall the performances carry the film well.

    One of the things I particularly enjoyed was that it is genuinely funny without taking itself too seriously, or relying on parodying scenes from other films, in order to get a quick joke (which might be expected), eg. Not Another Teen Movie style.

    Admittedly, it does reference a number of films, but in a subtle manner, and collates these elements in a highly enjoyable overall film. I really enjoyed watching this film!

    What a great picture.
  • CrookedlittleB33
    May 18, 2008
    CrookedlittleB33
    Total classic...
  • sanjurosamurai
    December 19, 2007
    sanjurosamurai
    the best teen party movie ever. funny and well thought out, certainly not a great movie but i have fun everytime i watch it.
  • MovieGeek13
    October 30, 2007
    MovieGeek13
    Lame. High school parties were so much cooler than this unfunny excuse for a movie.

View All Can't Hardly Wait Reviews

Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman
August 6, 2007
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

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

Lisa Alspector
August 6, 2007
Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader

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

Michael O'Sullivan
August 6, 2007
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

John Hughes must be spinning in his grave. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
May 30, 2006
Emanuel Levy, Variety

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... Full Review

Liam Lacey
April 12, 2002
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

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

Kevin Thomas
February 14, 2001
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

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

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie lumbers ungracefully from romantic showdowns to Deep Conversations to bathroom humor. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
January 1, 2000
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The directors get good performances from a talented cast. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

The title seems unexpectedly appropriate, as it accurately summed up my feelings about sitting in the theater and anticipating the arrival of the end credits -- I couldn't hardly wait. Full Review

Janet Maslin
January 1, 2000
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Flip through any yearbook, and you'll find the stock characters who amusingly populate the teen-age comedy Can't Hardly Wait. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • American Pie
    American Pie (69%)
  • 10 Things I Hate About You
    10 Things I Hate About You (57%)
  • Save the Last Dance
    Save the Last Dance (60%)
  • Modern Girls
    Modern Girls (100%)

More Movies like Can't Hardly Wait

Facts

Submit a Fact | View All
  • rock on
Submit a Fact | View All

Can't Hardly Wait : Watch Free on TV

Can't Hardly Wait Trivia

  • In Can't Hardly Wait, what does Kenny wear on his head for most of the movie?  Answer »
  • In the movie Can't Hardly Wait, the guys couldn't break up with their girlfriends because they had tickets to see what band?  Answer »
  • What teen movie had the theme song 'Cant get enough of you baby' by Smashmouth?  Answer »
  • Who was Jennifer Love Hewitt play in Can't Hardly Wait?  Answer »
More Can't Hardly Wait Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Can't Hardly Wait Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Can't Hardly Wait to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?