Can't Hardly Wait Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)October 8th, 1999
PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com
Who would make a movie like this? I guess the first place to look would be the producer credit. Go ahead, take a peek at it. Jenno Topping? Does that sound the slightest bit strange to you? Maybe Jenno is a new brand of ice cream and if you put some chocolate sprinkles on it, they would be a Jenno Topping. Perhaps it’s a pseudonym to hide his real identity. And speaking of pseudonyms, the editor is named Michael Jablow. ‘Nuff said.
Next check the director credit. Yup, that’s two names. Can anyone name a good movie that had two directors? OK, two non-sibling directors - the brothers Farrelly (Kingpin) and Hughes (Menace II Society) don’t count. These two are making their directorial debut and have only A Very Brady Sequel under their screenplay belt. Why not let them run loose on a soundstage with a bunch of money?
Can’t Hardly Wait is one of those annoying coming-of-age pictures where every character learns something important about themselves and, occasionally, about those around them as well. Set on the eve of the affluent Huntington High graduation, Can’t Hardly Wait offers nothing that its predecessors hasn’t, but has possibly broken new ground in terms of underage drinking and teen sex. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, either.
Of course, there is the obligatory graduation party thrown by the obligatory girl who is afraid that her parent’s house will be trashed. There is also the obligatory nice guy (Embry, Vegas Vacation) who for years has hidden his love of the obligatory prom queen (Love Hewitt, Party of Five), who has been dating the obligatory jock (Facinelli) throughout their four year high school interment.
You’ve also got your obligatory geek who becomes popular (William Lichter), your obligatory “wigger” (Seth Green, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and your obligatory ugly duckling who ends up finding true love (Ambrose, In & Out). Strangely missing are the obligatory man-hating lesbian and the obligatory boy-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks. This is OK with me because it kept the running time down to a stomachable length.
What would make somebody decide to see a movie like this? Take a look at Love-Hewitt’s rack and ask the question again.
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