A complete graduating class, consisting of beautiful girls, geeks and promising footballers, assemble at a rich classmate's residence for a party. Interesting developments follow at the get-... Read allA complete graduating class, consisting of beautiful girls, geeks and promising footballers, assemble at a rich classmate's residence for a party. Interesting developments follow at the get-together.A complete graduating class, consisting of beautiful girls, geeks and promising footballers, assemble at a rich classmate's residence for a party. Interesting developments follow at the get-together.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Freddy Rodríguez
- Jock #3
- (as Freddy Rodriguez)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was Charlie Korsmo's first on-screen appearance since Hook (1991). He was attending MIT when he was offered the role.
- GoofsWhen Amanda comes down the stairs her hair is done. In the next shot when she reaches the bottom of the stairs coming in to the yard, her hair is very flat. Then Preston says "Amanda, I love you" she turns around and her hair is done again.
- Crazy creditsAfter all the credits are done rolling Mike Dexter yells out "I'll kick everyone's ass in this room" which he said earlier on in the film.
- Alternate versionsIn order to receive a PG-13 rating, a number of scenes were deleted altogether from the final print. The missing scenes are:
- All of the scenes involving a character called the Crying Drunk Girl (Jennifer Elise Cox) who is so drunk that she has subtitles for when she speaks and she is the key to what is going on in the movie. Her missing scenes of dialogue are:
- After Preston and Denise talk with the Yearbook Girl, the Crying Drunk Girl walks up to them and says, "Thush bezt weveram sisu gizem chext ear." (subtitle translation: "This is the best party ever! I'm gonna miss you guys next year!) She group hugs them and walks away where Preston says, "There's one at every party."
- After Preston walks away from the Exchange Student at the backyard pool, the Crying Drunk Girl walks over to the Exchange Student and says to him, "Idlik tach yre enis!" (I'd like to touch your penis!)
- When Kenny and Denise suddenly get locked in the upstairs bathroom and scream "NOOOOO!!!" the tracking shot from the bathroom door leads down the steps directly to the Crying Drunk Girl who somehow hears them and she says "Yerd dum shelling yers chairs." (Did anyone hear that? Somebody's yelling for help upstairs!) But since no one can understand her, no help comes to Kenny or Denise.
- When Amanda is talking to the Stoned Guy and the Watermelon Guy about who Preston is, the Crying Drunk Girl stumbles over to Amanda, leans on her shoulder, and says: "Snow stun shy is shy sumber shess sing." (I know who Preston Meyers is. I can give you his phone number, his address, anything.) Unable to understand her, Amanda just shrugs her off and walks away.
- During the police raid, one of the cops is talking to the Crying Drunk Girl on the front lawn of the house who asks her to stop crying and speak clearly and she says, "I allred tdya, mnwans is mray hunds, ive at seveithg nolfok. (But I already told you! My name is Mary Hampson and I live and 1781 Norfolk!) Unable to understand her, the cop puts in her in a police van with Kenny's two Homboys and others who include the Hippy Girl, the Headbanger and others.
- Also deleted was the scene involving the Stoned Girl (Amber Benson) who is glimpsed holding a banana as William walks through the kitchen to taste his first beer. It takes place in between the scenes where Kenny hits on Ashley and Jana where he sees her leaning against a dining room shelf and talks to her, but all she says is "Okay" everything he says. Then another girl walks in and thanks Kenny for finding her and says that Stephanie (the name of the Stoned Girl) just took three thingies of herbal ecstasy is so out of it. The girlfriend helps the Stoned Girl to her feet and they leave, leaving Kenny alone and downbeat.
- Also deleted was the original opening which takes place in a bookstore the day before the graduation where Preston is talking to Denise about his desire for Amanda and his plans for going away to college.
- When Kenny and his two homeboys first arrive at the party, Kenny plays around with a large sheepdog, named Mr. Tuxford, at the front door who belongs to the Girl Whose Party It Is, who jumps onto Kenny licking his face where he pushes the dog away who runs out the front door and the Girl runs after him.
- There is more dialogue after when Kenny and Denise are released from the upstairs bathroom where the Girl Whose Party It Is continues yelling at Kenny and about the destruction they brought to her house as they are walking down the stairs where the house is now completely deserted and ransacked, and then the Girl's dog runs into the house and she drops to one knee and hugs the dog while Kenny takes this distraction to walk out and follow Denise.
- A scene where the Watermelon Guy holds up a large watermelon and says "This was in my freezer since September and I've poured six bottles of vodka into it and I've been saving it for this time!" When all the guys around him grab at it, the watermelon falls on the kitchen floor splattering.
- A scene in the "make-out room" where Mike Dexter enters looking for Amanda in the basement lit with dim red light and he turns on the basement lights revealing a dozen or more scantly clad boys and girls necking and shirtless William is among them with one of the Groupies and another girl. William gets up, puts on a blue band shirt, turns the lights back off and follows Mike upstairs after saying he remembers what he was supposed to do tonight.
- During the raid when the Yearbook Girl tries getting her yearbook floating on the swimming pool after William throws it in, she falls head first into the pool. She climbs out and runs into a group of kids running from the cops and falls back in the pool again. Then the Reminiscing Guy appears, pulls her out with of the pool as her savior with her yearbook and they make their getaway.
- More scenes with William and the Stoned Guy who put marijuana in the mini dinosaur and inhales from the mouth and then gives it to William for a try.
- As Preston is walking away from the trash cans after throwing away his letter to Amanda, he passes by a car where a girl's leg is sticking out of a window and the unmistakable sounds of lovemaking are heard from the car.
- An extended scene with Kenny and his two Homeboys in the convenience store where they are talking while they are bringing their stuff to the cash register to purchase.
- In the scene where the Hippy Girl is tasting a marijuana brownie with the Hippy Guy, she tells him that he's supposed to melt the weed in with the butter, not put it in the mix and then says: "these brownies suck!" and then throws it in the direction of Denise.
- The final scene at the diner is expanded with a shot from the Yearbook Girl and the Reminiscing Guy looking at some romance between them, the shot moves to the next booths where they show the band of the bass player, drummer, guitarist and lead singer trying to make sense about the night before, to the Foreign Exchange Student and the Crying Drunk Girl having found each other and both talking in incoherent, nonsense language and understanding each other, to at least two other booths, including the Girl Whose Party it was, before stopping at the booth with Mike Dexter and his jock friends.
- The final parts of 'where the characters are now' were changed. The original Kenny and Denise part originally read: Denise dumped Kenny later that day. Denise went to NYU, where she found a whole bunch of people just like her. Bored at it all, she dropped out and started shooting photo covers for Rolling Stone Magazine. She currently directed the latest music video for Wu-Tang Clan.
- The original Kenny bit read: Kenny went to UCLA and found a bunch of people just like him. Unable to compete, he reinvented himself as an eco-conscious vegan nudist. He currently lives with a cult in Northern California.
- Other character bios read: William's friends, Geoff Piccirilli and Murphy Pelan, did not go to college. They created a comic book called Citizen X about a man with no identity, no Social Security number, nothing, who uses his anonymity to infiltrate numerous conspiracies involving the government, aliens, and the abduction and subsequent probing of them and other innocent people by extraterrestrials. They are currently dating no one.
- Another character quote reads: Amanda's cousin, Ron, is currently in prison.
- The Girl Whose Party It Is was also featured and it reads: The Girl Whose Party It Was, Molly Stinson, dropped out of college her freshman year to work as an intern for her role model, Martha Stewart. Three months later, she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown. She is currently working as a librarian.
- The Crying Drunk Girl's character read: The Crying Drunk Girl, Mary Hampson, attended college for nearly two years, then dropped out to become a tour guide at the White House, a job she still holds. Her favorite times at work is leading groups of school children in an enthusiastic rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance.
- ConnectionsEdited into Tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity (1999)
- SoundtracksCan't Hardly Wait
Written by Paul Westerberg
Performed by The Replacements
Courtesy of Sire Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Featured review
In the wake of the John Hughes teen-flick boom of the '80s, the '90s was well-stocked with a plethora of coming-of-age films aimed at teenagers. Some were better ("Dazed & Confused") than others ("Empire Records"), but regardless of where you stood on the social ladder, there was most assuredly a film tailor-made just for you. For every "She's All That," there was a "The Craft." Perhaps no film so perfectly encapsulated the late '90s vibe better than "Can't Hardly Wait," a film named after a Replacements song jam packed with music from the likes of Eve 6 and Blink-182. Arriving just one year before "American Pie" would close the decade with a definitive thrust, "Can't Hardly Wait" didn't exactly make a big splash upon release, but has proved to be one of the most re-watchable of its time and of its kind.
It's the last day of high school at Huntington Hillside and the class of '98 packs into the house of one of its more unfortunate classmates for one last hoorah. A virtual melting pot of geeks, stoners, jocks, morons and miscreants, this is a party for just about everyone. Most prominent is our lead character, Preston (played by Ethan Embry, recalling a time when the actor was known as more than "that creepy guy" from any number of horror/thrillers), who is taking advantage of the occasion to finally tell the girl of his dreams, Amanda (Jennifer Love Hewitt, recalling a time when the actress was the "it" girl), just how much he admires her. He's been silently stalking her through the halls, writing a long-winded love letter that he plans on giving to her tonight (because that's not creepy or anything). On the other side of the party, disgruntled nerd William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo) seeks revenge against his tormentor, the insufferable jock Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli), who -- depending on who you ask -- is either a god, a role model or an a-hole.
The guest list is jam-packed with a slew of actors who were either in every other film of its era or who would go on to do bigger gigs. From Seth Green's wannabe poser, to the criminally underrated Lauren Ambrose (who turns into Green's unlikely love interest), you can't throw a cat in this film without hitting a "Hey, I know that guy/girl!" Jason Segal, Selma Blair, Jerry O'Connell, Breckin Meyer, Clea DuVall, Freddy Rodriguez, Donald Faison, Jaime Pressly and Jenna Elfman, playing an angelic stripper. This film is stacked with young talent. Thankfully, none of this ever feels cluttered or disjointed. Directors Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont duck in and out of different social circles with ease, delivering a memorable moment just about every other minute. The film is high-energy and the cast is more than up to the task of making the sum greater than its parts. Though Green and Ambrose nearly hijack the narrative with their natural chemistry, the film truly belongs to the entire cast.
More than just a time capsule, "Can't Hardly Wait" is a great example of a teen flick done just right. The audience is never insulted, though there is admittedly more than enough sentiment on hand. Unlike the aforementioned "American Pie," the film never goes for gross and never cheapens its characters. These feel like real people having a real experience. Though it didn't have as big an impact as it should've, chances are, if you came of age during the late '90s and saw this film, it's an undeniable part of your DNA at this point. Insanely re-watchable, even those of us in our '30s and even '40s (!) will find it worth revisiting from time to time, unlike our actual high school experiences.
It's the last day of high school at Huntington Hillside and the class of '98 packs into the house of one of its more unfortunate classmates for one last hoorah. A virtual melting pot of geeks, stoners, jocks, morons and miscreants, this is a party for just about everyone. Most prominent is our lead character, Preston (played by Ethan Embry, recalling a time when the actor was known as more than "that creepy guy" from any number of horror/thrillers), who is taking advantage of the occasion to finally tell the girl of his dreams, Amanda (Jennifer Love Hewitt, recalling a time when the actress was the "it" girl), just how much he admires her. He's been silently stalking her through the halls, writing a long-winded love letter that he plans on giving to her tonight (because that's not creepy or anything). On the other side of the party, disgruntled nerd William Lichter (Charlie Korsmo) seeks revenge against his tormentor, the insufferable jock Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli), who -- depending on who you ask -- is either a god, a role model or an a-hole.
The guest list is jam-packed with a slew of actors who were either in every other film of its era or who would go on to do bigger gigs. From Seth Green's wannabe poser, to the criminally underrated Lauren Ambrose (who turns into Green's unlikely love interest), you can't throw a cat in this film without hitting a "Hey, I know that guy/girl!" Jason Segal, Selma Blair, Jerry O'Connell, Breckin Meyer, Clea DuVall, Freddy Rodriguez, Donald Faison, Jaime Pressly and Jenna Elfman, playing an angelic stripper. This film is stacked with young talent. Thankfully, none of this ever feels cluttered or disjointed. Directors Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont duck in and out of different social circles with ease, delivering a memorable moment just about every other minute. The film is high-energy and the cast is more than up to the task of making the sum greater than its parts. Though Green and Ambrose nearly hijack the narrative with their natural chemistry, the film truly belongs to the entire cast.
More than just a time capsule, "Can't Hardly Wait" is a great example of a teen flick done just right. The audience is never insulted, though there is admittedly more than enough sentiment on hand. Unlike the aforementioned "American Pie," the film never goes for gross and never cheapens its characters. These feel like real people having a real experience. Though it didn't have as big an impact as it should've, chances are, if you came of age during the late '90s and saw this film, it's an undeniable part of your DNA at this point. Insanely re-watchable, even those of us in our '30s and even '40s (!) will find it worth revisiting from time to time, unlike our actual high school experiences.
- Minus_The_Beer
- Jul 2, 2017
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Ya no puedo esperar
- Filming locations
- Johnie's Broiler - 7447 Firestone Blvd., Downey, California, USA(restaurant scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,605,015
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $8,025,910
- Jun 14, 1998
- Gross worldwide
- $25,605,015
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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