CAN’T HARDLY WAIT (1998)
Tagline: In the history of partying, Huntington Hills High School is about to become legendary.
(Comedy, Romance, Oh Crap, Seth Green Is In This) [PG-13]
I hate to interrupt this alternate universe you wandered into here, but like, I hear that song is about his dog.
In the graduating class of 1998 and pretty much every senior is going to a massive party at a rich kid’s house. At the party, Preston plans to finally tell Amanda Beckett of his love for her after 4 years of putting it off due to the fact that she had a boyfriend. Another kid William wants revenge on a bully and as the party moves along wild happenings begin to take place. No, not that kind of wild. Sadly, there aren’t any aliens made of shoelaces or genetic grasshoppers with machine guns in this.
First off, whenever Seth Green shows up in a movie, I can’t stand his character. Maybe that’s his thing, but yeah – I am pretty sure I wouldn’t like him in real life either. I also think it’s interesting that Melissa Joan Hart is in this and she barely has a line in the movie. When they were filming apparently she was taking B-12 to get her energy up for the night shoots because she was filming for her TV show during the day. Apparently, Jennifer Love Hewitt thought she was on drugs. I will say that I am very familiar with B-12 and it doesn’t really have this crazy kick, people might think it does. The sublingual version was originally developed to help drug addicts come down without having a severe crash, but it’s not crack or caffeine, so the energy will be there just not in a jumpy jolt sort of way. Another way it’s commonly used is in a shot or along with other B’s. Incidentally, Ethan Embry who plays Preston actually was on drugs for so much of this movie that he forgets filming it.
Anyway, there are some really funny lines in this movie, but probably my favorite thing about it is the chemistry between Denise and Preston which unfortunately we only get a few minutes of. The two dated in 8th grade for a week, but now they are best friends and their relationship is just awesome. Typically, I can’t stand movies even having a short party scene because they are usually just stupid wastes of time, but somehow this works on a lot of levels because there are multiple stories going on and multiple motives involved. It feels a bit like some of the elements are borrowed from other films like BREAKFAST CLUB and REVENGE OF THE NERDS. This is also one of those movies that I can empathize with because I dated a girl from pretty much the beginning of my Sophomore year until halfway through my Junior year. Even then I felt a bit lonely after the break up even in a high school with nearly 1,000 kids. However, in the movie, Amanda is facing life after high school with a breakup, and I can only imagine that feeling 10 times as lonely. Then stepping into Preston’s shoes and having this feeling you are supposed to be with a certain person but never taking the step of acting on it. Some of this movie is also a cautionary tale on how exactly NOT to win over a girl.
This is another one of the movies from this era that has a pretty great soundtrack. It features everything from Kingdom Come to RUN-DMC, but perhaps the most epic moment music-wise is William’s crazy moment where he grabs the mic and starts terribly singing Guns N Roses “Paradise City”. A lot of the soundtrack is well used for comedic timing as well which I liked.
When it comes to the acting there isn’t a ton to really say. The movie is a giant party that pretty much could have been filmed with a bunch of 20-somethings at just about anyone’s 4-bedroom house, but the major stars are Jennifer Love Hewitt (I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER) who plays Amanda. Lauren Ambrose (Yellowjackets) plays Denise, Seth Green (WEIRD: THE AL YANKOVIC STORY) plays Kenny, and Charlie Korsmo (HOOK) plays William. I also mentioned Melissa Joan Hart (DRIVE ME CRAZY) and we get a few scenes with Donald Faison (CLUELESS).
Overall this is a pretty decent movie and I liked most of the cast, but it’s not as good as other films from its time. I don’t care what other critics say. There wasn’t enough here to say it’s better than just okay.
I give this one a 3 out of 7. It’s not a movie I feel like I’d watch repeatedly.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
Comments
Post a Comment