Can’t Hardly Wait
Directed by Harry Elfont & Deborah Kaplan
Written by Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont
The review:
Wowee, does this standard multi-character teenage comedy capture a time.* While it’s great to reacquaint yourself with people who once were around a lot and have faded,** I’m not sure this is the greatest use of your movie-watching time.*** But if you, like me, can never resist a teen comedy and you haven’t yet seen this, well, you’ve got some homework.
The verdict: Good
Cost: Netflix monthly fee ($8.99)
Where watched: at home
Consider also watching:
- American Graffiti
- Bring it On
- Clueless
- Mean Girls
- 10 Things I Hate About You
- Loser
- Booksmart
Further sentences:
*My teen years encompassed 1987–1994 and aside from Say Anything in 1989 not one teen comedy was released while I was actually a teenager. This, in my memory, is the first after the drought.
**Jennifer Love Hewitt, Seth Green, Sean Patrick Thomas, Jenna Elfman. (Ethan Embry I just saw in a minor role in Blindspotting. He was great in that. A little so-so in this.)
***Though it’s a teen comedy before cell phones plus the 1990s clothing is so fun to remind you that you are glad you aren’t wearing it any longer.
Questions:
- What did you think of the wrapup text that tells you where everyone is?
- If you had to dress like one of the characters, which would it be?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
At one point, there’s a distant shot showing someone doing flips in the party’s yard. That’s actually Ethan Embry. In addition to acting, he was an award-winning gymnast from a very young age.
Other reviews of Can’t Hardly Wait:
- Mick La Salle, San Francisco Chronicle
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
