CAN'T HARDLY WAIT
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Wait.
Set at one long party featuring underage alcohol abuse and the
trashing of a house, CAN'T HARDLY WAIT is FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
without the laughs.
Written and directed jointly by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan, a
team whose only credited role is as the screenwriters of A VERY BRADY
SEQUEL, CAN'T HARDLY WAIT brings together all of the high school
stereotypes into a single movie. The picture features horny but
brainless jocks, tacky bimbos, clueless nerds and would-be gangsta
white kids. The only missing ingredient for a proper parody is a
humorous script.
As Mike Dexter, the most popular boy in school, Peter Facinelli,
from his broad toothy grin to the way he holds his body, is the
spitting image of the young Tom Cruise. He tells his buddies to
jettison their current girlfriends to get ready for all of those hot
babes they will meet when they get to college in the fall. ("The
future, broh, is women." As in college women.)
Mike's girlfriend is, of course, the most sought-after girl in
school, Amanda Beckett. Like Godzilla, the movie teases us for the
first twenty minutes without revealing what she looks like. Eventually
she turns to the camera, and we learn that Amanda is played by teenage
heartthrob Jennifer Love Hewitt from I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER.
Sandwiched in-between the bad jokes is a would-be tender romance.
The homely Preston Meyers, played by Ethan Embry from VEGAS VACATION,
has loved Amanda since she ate the exact same type of pop-tart as he
did when they were freshmen. She doesn't know he exists, but by the
end of the movie - surprise - she will go from the hollow hunk Mike to
the sincerely serious Preston.
The movie passes the time by recycling humor you've heard before.
("Isn't this the weekend you date your girlfriend from the Internet?"
one of the geeks asks the other, while reenacting scenes from STAR WARS
and searching the skies for UFOs.)
There are a few nice scenes including one in which two kids get
locked in a bathroom and decide to drop their masks and become real
people again. Without their facades, they decide they like each other
enough to have sex together. Once the door is opened, they quickly
revert to their previous false and shallow behavior.
CAN'T HARDLY WAIT runs 1:39. It is rated PG-13 for underage
drinking, profanity and sexual situations and would be acceptable for
older teenagers.
pre>
Have I Seen This Movie: Yes
And What Did I Think?: I'm not a big fan of teen movies, but this was fun to watch. Just about the whole movie takes place at a wild party after senior graduation. It's a time for change for all the kids, and they have one last wild time before moving on and changing. Watching all the different kids at the party was fun, because some of them were hilarious. Particulary, Seth Green who plays a wannabe homeboy who's just trying to get some sex for the first time. Also funny was Charlie Korsmo who plays a nerd who drinks just a little too much and becomes the life of the party for one night. Melissa Joan Hart played a funny yearbook obsessive cheerleader. The two sci-fi nerds who stayed away from the party just to plot against the jock were also good. The one person I didn't care for all that much, was the star, Jennifer Love Hewitt. She just was a little too nice it seemed. The whole basis of her and Ethan Embry kind of wrecked it, I think it would have been better if it was just a party movie. It's a good movie to laugh to and make you feel good. Its worthwhile if you can catch it on cable, like I did.
I give Can't Hardly Wait 3 out of 5 stars
Review written July 20, 1999
