“Just so you know, judging from my little experience, I kind
of believe in fate. It just works in really fucked up ways sometimes.” – Denise
Fleming, Can’t Hardly Wait.
Preston is an aspiring writer who has harbored a crush for Amanda Beckett since he was
a freshman. After hearing that Mike Dexter has dumped Amanda , Preston
is convinced that fate has given him an opportunity to tell Amanda how he truly
feels (Ethan Embry, with his sad eyes and fidgety demeanor is well cast).
Preston deduces that Amanda will be at the big graduation party (being held at
the house of a nameless classmate), and thus this will give him a chance to deliver the
love letter he has written her.
This
letter has been in his possession for years and has gone through multiple
drafts.
This is a great example of movie
logic vs. real life logic. In the movie, Preston’s obsession over Amanda, to
the point of endlessly revising a simply love letter, is ROMANTIC (swoon), in
real life, however, it would be viewed as creepy.
Ladies, picture a man you have never spoken
to, walking up to you in the street and with demented grin on his face, handing
you a love letter that he has kept in his possession for many years…yeah,
pretty damn creepy.
Therefore, it is completely understandable when, later on, Preston (sans the letter) confesses
his feelings towards Amanda and she (oblivious to the fact that he wrote the
love letter) writes him off as a complete creep.
Seconds later, she looks up Preston’s picture
in the yearbook (Preston’s name is on the love letter, but she has no idea who
he is) and is appalled at her behavior towards her semi-secret admirer.
Amanda
Beckett(Jennifer Love
Hewitt)
Jennifer Love Hewitt was the IT girl when Can’t Hardly Wait went into production and is perfectly cast as
Amanda as Amanda Beckett – the most popular girl in high school. She also has probably the most thankless role
in the entire cast; Amanda is sanest character out of the group, hence the
least interesting. Her main conflict is
trying to adapt to post Mike Dexter/high school life. Her identity in high school was simply
“Mike’s Girlfriend” and it’s a role that she willing to play, because the
alternative (being alone) scared her.
Preston’s love letter, which magically falls into her hands, gives her
the confidence to move on with her life. Though, it’s a bit problematic that
Amanda’s idea of moving on is to jump directly into another relationship (with
Preston) after having just been dumped by Mike.
Of course, this is a trope that pervades most teen comedies, so it’s
hard to really fault Can’t Hardly Wait for
sticking to the formula.
The filmmakers slowly build to Amanda's first appearance, thus give Jennifer Love Hewitt her "star" moment. It
is not until about twenty minutes into the movie that we get a good
look at Amanda Beckett. The party goers (and the movie) comes to a
complete stop when she makes her appearance at the party. Before this
moment everything we learn about her comes from high school gossip and
Preston’s flashback, which cleverly obscures her
face. She is a near mythic figure at
Huntington High School; in Preston’s flashback her arrival is signaled by thunder and lightning. The party is first time
that many of her classmates, and the audience, are seeing her in a human light. Who is
the real Amanda? What is she going to do?
As the movie progresses Amanda, despite her lofty position in the high
school hierarchy, becomes a sympathetic figure.
The party is a catalyst for Amanda to move on with her life; she no
longer cares what other people think of her.
Mike Dexter (Peter Facinelli)
Peter Facinelli gives my favorite performance in the entire
movie as the arrogant jock, Mike Dexter.
He is wonderfully obnoxious in his early scenes – when his friends
express their disbelief that he broke up with THE Amanda Beckett, he responds
with a belch. He perfectly embodies the
phrase “the man you love to hate.” Yet, when Mike’s world comes falling apart
around him, Facinelli manages to make the character sympathetic. This was
supposed to be a big night for Mike; instead it has turned into a descent into
hell (an off screen, female voice calls him a “FAG” following his public
humiliation at the hands of Amanda). The
only sympathetic ear at the party is William Fichter – the nerd who Mike has
tormented for years.
William
Lichter (Charlie Korsmo)
William Lichter’s character arc is interesting, because it is the exact
opposite of Mike Dexter’s – he begins the night as a complete outsider (he was
an anti-social nerd in high school) and ends up being the most popular guy at
the party; his drunken rendition of Guns N' Roses "Paradise City" proves to be a big hit with his fellow party goers. William’s initial reason for going to the party is to get revenge of
Mike Dexter, for the years of torment and public embarrassments, and has
contrived a plan to humiliate Mike:
He will lure Mike and a jock friend behind the pool house, then two of his nerd
friends will jump the jocks and knock them out with chloroform. The two jocks will then be stripped of their
clothes and posed in suggestive positions while William takes Polaroids of them.
However, William’s revenge plot gets put on hold as he starts to intermingle
with his classmates and gets absolutely wasted as the night progresses. In an even more shocking twist, William and Mike actually share a bonding moment at the party, albeit a drunken one. This leads to one of my favorite exchanges in the movie:
Mike
Dexter:
You remember the time that you had to make that really stupid speech, and I
kinda sorta tripped you, and everybody started laughing at you in school?
William Lichter: OK, yeah. Yeah.
Mike Dexter: I'm sorry.
William Lichter: Oh, man. Don't worry about it.
Mike Dexter: Hey, it's ancient history, right?
William Lichter: It's ancient history.
Mike Dexter: When was that, anyway?
William Lichter: That was this morning at graduation.
Mike Dexter: Oh, yeah.
Denise
Fleming(Lauren Ambrose)
Denise is the misfit out of the group – she doesn’t belong in a specific group
and is fairly anti-social. It is only due to Preston’s insistence that she
attends the party. Preston is her best
and, possibly, only friend, so when he goes off to find Amanda, she is left
to her own devices and has a hard time fitting in; the only person that talks
to her, a seemingly shy girl, does so on a bet.
In a more traditional teenage comedy, Denise and Preston would end up
together, while Amanda is left standing on the curb. After all, the set up is
there – Preston is infatuated with Amanda, completely oblivious to the fact
that his best, female, friend is fairly cute in her own right. Though, at least
Can’t Hardly Wait doesn’t make this
mistake most teen comedies make by casting the more attractive women in the
role of the “plain best friend.” Lauren Ambrose is cute, but she is not
“beautiful”, in the traditional Hollywood sense. However, Elfont/Kaplan have a
much different fate in store for Denise. She doesn’t end up with her current best
friend Preston, but, rather, her best friend from childhood, Kenny Fisher.
Kenny
Fisher(Seth Green)
In the 90s, the term used to describe a guy like Kenny was “wigger.” This piece
of slang was, understandably, put to pasture by the end of the decade (though,
it is occasionally thrown around). Kenny is a white suburban boy who emulates
“black culture,” much to the annoyance of everyone around him. His sole reason for going to the party is to
get laid, but, much to his surprise, it proves to be a lot more difficult that
he expected (most of the women greet him with complete disdain). Just when it looks like he might score with a
girl looking for rebound sex, he gets himself locked in a bathroom with Denise.
The two of them have been estranged since the sixth grade – Kenny stopped
talking to her because he thought it might hurt his popularity. Their time in the bathroom together allows
for them to reconnect and Kenny drops the pretense.
The
underlying theme of Can’t Hardly Wait is
fate: does it exist, and if so, what purpose does it play in our life. It is
clear that Elfont/Kaplan clearly believe in fate as it is setting their
cinematic world in motion: Mike Dexter
breaks up with Amanda Beckett on Graduation Day, which allows Preston to
express his true feeling towards her (via love letter); The house band gets into
a petty argument and breaks up, setting the stage for social wallflower,
William, to do a rowdy sing a long to “Paradise City,” which in turns makes him
the life of the party; a broken door knob traps estranged friends, Denise
Fleming and Kenny Fisher, in the bathroom together, which leads to romance; and through
a series of contrivances, Preston’s love letters ends up in Amanda’s hands
(after he has thrown it in the garbage).
Can’t
Hardly Wait was given mixed reviews by the critics and, rather bafflingly,
has a lower rating than American Pie. Sure,
Can’t Hardly Wait isn’t a perfect
movie, but its theme is much better integrated into its story than the
contrived message American Pie preaches
(There is more to life than sex, kids!”)
Fate
is not the only thing at work in Can’t
Hardly Wait, as there are thee moments of divine intervention: Mike’s run
in with Trip McNeely; the head banger that starts blaring Gun N Roses’ “Paradise
City” on his boom box; and, rather blatantly, Preston’s encounter with a
stripper dressed like an angel. These three minor characters, seemingly, appear
out of nowhere and force the main characters into taking action.
Divine Intervention#1: Trip McNeely
Mike Dexter has broken up with Amanda; because he is “a college guy” now and his
main interest in life is hooking up with college girls. He tries to convince
his friends to break up with their girlfriends so they can spend the entire
summer hanging out together before going to college. His friends are, at first,
enthusiastic about the idea (“Girlfriends suck!”), but when they arrive at the party
they have a complete change of heart.
Mike feels betrayed and, after getting rejected by two girls, sits on a porch
swing to sulk. Then, quite unexpectedly, former high school great, Trip
McNeely, sits down next to Mike and is completely wasted. Mike is absolutely
elated – not only is Trip a legend for his on field accomplishments, but his
off field as well (he was a sexual monster).
However, post-high school life has not been pretty for Trip; he broke up
with his high school girlfriend (for the exact same reason Mike broke up with
Amanda) only to find rejection in college (the women on campus don’t care about
athletics). He even begged his high school girlfriend to take him back, but she had
moved on. Trip, oblivious Mike has broken up with Amanda, advises Mike to stay
with her and then walks off in a drunken stupor. This is a “Ghost of Christmas
Future” moment for Mike – Trip is, essentially, a future version of himself if
he doesn’t change his ways. However, Mike misinterprets the meaning of this
encounter and, rather focusing on bettering himself, he decides it is pivotal
that he gets back with Amanda. He publicly asks Amanda to take him back, but
she rejects the offer, thus making him look like an asshole in the
process.
Divine
Intervention#2: The Head Banger
The party has grown kind of stale, when suddenly a head banger jumps on
the band stage and starts blaring “Paradise City” on his boom box. William is
chilling with the stoners outside, when he hears “Paradise City” blaring from
inside the house. He comments that he knows this song because a student he
tutored used to play this song all the time. He then stumbles indoors, pushes
aside the head banger with the boom box, and does a rowdy, drunken sing a long
to “Paradise City.” The other party goers find it funny at first, but the
rowdier William gets, the more they get into it – there is body surfing and a
drunken girl flashes him. William becomes a rock star in his own right and
even acquires a few groupies, who are eager to make out with him. The party is a life
changing experience for William as it changes him from being a socially
awkward nerd to a laid back, popular fellow (he goes on to become one of the
most popular students at Harvard). However, without the head banger spurring on
William, there is a good chance he would have spent the rest of party hanging
out with the stoners, spewing philosophical nonsense.
Divine
Intervention #3: The Angel Stripper
Preston leaves the party after he witnesses (and misinterprets) Ron making a
pass at Amanda. He was certain that this was going to be his night, because he
heard the Barry Manilow song “Mandy” playing on the radio and interpreted as a
sign. Denise scoffs at this and tells him that the song was written about a
dog. It turns out that the radio station he is listening to is having a Barry
Manilow marathon, much to Preston’s chagrin. However, the station is conducting an interview with Barry Manilow, and their listeners
can call in and ask him a question. Preston decides to call in to find
out whether or not “Mandy” was about a dog and pulls up to a pay phone
(remember those?). While he is on the
pay phone, a woman dressed like an angel materializes out of nowhere and asks
if she can use the pay phone – her car has died and she needs to call a taxi. She hangs up the phone on Preston, after
hearing his question for the DJ, and then commandeers the pay phone. Preston
has a few choice words with her, until she points out the absurdity of him
wanting call Barry Manilow at two in the morning. Preston realizes she is right and begins to
mope on a bench. She then sits down next to him and offers up some words of
wisdom. She tells him there is fate, but
it can only take you so far and the rest is up to you. The angel stripper tells Preston about an
encounter she had with Scott Baio – she had a major crush on the actor and fate
had dealt her favorable hand to tell him how she felt. However, at the last
second she chickened out, leaving her to wonder “WHAT IF?” for the rest of her
life.
This revitalizes Preston and he is
determined to tell Amanda his true feelings – he doesn’t want to have another
“WHAT IF?” moment in his life. This one
of the best scenes in the movie and, interestingly, Ethan Embry has much better
onscreen chemistry with Jenna Elfman than he does with Jennifer Love
Hewitt. Jenna Elfman’s delivery of the
“Scott Baio” monologue borders on the comedic/tragic. It is simultaneously
hilarious and heart breaking. It is a
small role, but Elfman nearly steals the movie. I also like the touch of having her
emerge from a fog bank – it gives the scene an ethereal quality to it. Is she
really a stripper disguised as an angel? Or is she Preston’s guardian angel
disguised as a stripper?
While
the Amanda – Preston story line is settled in a traditional manner, the
structure of Can’t Hardly Wait, itself,
is fairly atypical. The plot to your
average teen comedy is “Boy meets girl – boy loses girl – boy wins girl back".
However, the two “romantic leads” in Can’t
Hardly Wait, Ethan Embry and Jennifer Love Hewitt, share very little screen
time and only twice do they exchange dialogue (both scenes occur in the last half hour). It seems whenever Preston is ready to make his movie, fate steps in the way. Early in the party, he is sitting right next to Amanda on a couch, when suddenly a nostalgic classmate starts to tell an embarrassing story about Preston, while Amanda laughs in the foreground.
The closer Preston gets to Amanda the more difficult it becomes - it's on par with getting to the final boss in a video game. You work so hard to get to the final stage, when, out of nowhere, a stray bullet strikes the character and you have to start all over. It is always an uphill battle Preston. Maybe the party is fate's way of telling Preston that it is not meant to be. NAH!
William Lichter's revenge plot against Mike Dexter gets put on hold as he is too busy intermingling with his classmates and having the time of his life. It also proves to be unnecessary because Amanda's public take down of Mike is far more damaging to his ego than any revenge William could ever think of. It also backfires big time - when, after the police raid the party, Mike tries to lead his newfound friend, William, to safety behind the pool house and the two of them get jumped, and chloroformed, by William's two nerdy minions. The nerds snap pictures of Mike and William is obscene positions and only afterwards do they realize their mistake. The cops then arrive on the scene and haul Mike and William to jail.
There are also a few
minor subplots going on as the movie unfolds: A psychotically perky girl
(Melissa Joan Hart) is determined to get everyone to sign her yearbook; the
hostess of the party slowly loses her mind as it gets more out of control; the
band, Love Burger, breaks up before playing a single note and then agree to get
back together; and a kleptomaniac steals anything that is within his
reach. The one thing you can’t say about
Can’t Hardly Wait is that it is
boring, because there is so much going on.
However, there are certain scenes/elements of Can’t Hardly Wait that never really sat well with me and I often
cringe whenever they come up; the first being the complete rejection – and
undermining – Mike Dexter’s character arc.
The movie leads you to believe that Mike has turned over a new leaf when
he takes the fall for William. Yet, when William thanks Mike at the diner the
next morning, Mike denies knowing him and proceeds to mock William in front of
his friends. A title card then appears
onscreen that informs us of Mike’s fate – he flunked out of college, gained
forty pounds, and got fired from the car wash.
This irks me to no end. Granted, it fits in with Elfont and Kaplan’s cinematic world view: the party
has been a humbling experience for Mike and fate has given him an opportunity
to better himself, but he completely rejects it. I, personally, would rather
see Mike be given a full redemption. The movie doesn’t necessarily have to end
with William and him becoming BFFS, but at least have Mike and William give a
slight nod of the head to each other. Sure, it is corny idea, but I find it
preferable to the stereotype of “the dumb jock who amounts to nothing.”
I’ve also never been sold on the idea that Denise would be so willing to sleep
with Kenny, despite the bonding that goes on in the bathroom. This not the fault
of the actors, but rather the writing – prior to them being locked in the
bathroom together, it is never established that Kenny and Denise have a history
together. There is a brief moment where
Denise makes fun of Kenny, but so does everyone else at the party. The two of them hooking up always felt a bit
contrived to me despite the sincerity of the performers.
Finally,
my least favorite scene in the movie: Cousin Ron making a move on Amanda!
At the party Amanda runs into her second cousin (through marriage), Ron, and he
offers up a sympathetic ear as she airs out her grievances. This, however,
turns out to be a complete ruse on his part and, sensing that Amanda is
vulnerable, he makes a pass at her. Preston walks in, sees
the two of them kissing, and assumes that this is consensual, and then leaves
the party absolutely deflated. Seconds after he leaves, Amanda pushes Ron away,
gives him a good scolding, and walks out of the room. Ron runs after her,
pleading to her not to tell his mother.
The only reason Ron exists is to give Preston a crisis of faith. I hate
it for two reasons:
1) The filmmakers could have
easily accomplished that same thing by having Preston walk in as Amanda and Ron
share a friendly hug. Or, have Amanda
give Ron an affection kiss on the cheek. You don’t need Ron to be a complete
lech in order for Preston to have a crisis of faith.
2) It would be nice to meet one
male who doesn’t have designs on Amanda. Practically every male she encounters
at the party, other than Preston, is a horn dog that wants to shack up with
Amanda. It would be a nice twist to have her meet a guy (her second cousin) who has zero interest in her. It wouldn’t be so redundant.
There
plenty of flaws with the script by Elfont and Kaplan, but they are extremely
imaginative filmmakers. My favorite part
is how they link characters, in different locations, together throw creative
editing and screen direction. The movie
opens on Preston and Denise at the graduation ceremony. After Preston reveals his whole plan to
Denise, they get in his car and drive off. The car drives out of the right side
of the frame.
CUT to. A long shot of Preston’s car, driving left to right in the frame, and
then pan over to Mike and his friends at a fast food restaurant. Mike convinces his cronies to dump their
girlfriends and they get in his red pick up truck; the truck drives to the left and out of frame.
CUT to. A long shot as a red, toy pick up truck rolls right to left into
the frame. All of a sudden, a hand comes into frame and knocks the toy pick up
truck over. The camera tilts up to reveal William Lichter. He then explains his elaborate revenge plot
to his two minions. The three of them walk upstairs as they appear on black and
white surveillance monitor (that, for some reason, William has in his room).
CUT to. A long shot of a surveillance camera in an convenience store. The
camera tilts down to reveal Kenny and his homeboys hanging out.
This is a clever, and efficient, way to introduce each character. It keeps the
movie going at a fast pace and, visually, gives us the information we need about each character.
Can’t Hardly Wait is not a great work
of art, but it is great piece of entertainment. It helped kick off the teen
comedy cycle that, for better or worse, would dominate the cinemas in the late
1990s/early 2000s; and would later be a parodied in Not Another Teen Movie. It is a much more imaginative movie than
the later teen comedies, even though it wasn’t as big of a hit (She’s All That and Bring It On did better box office). It is also interesting to see
familiar faces, before they hit stardom, in smaller roles: Selma Blair, Jason
Segal, Clea DuVal, Marisol Nichols, Sara Rue, and Eric Balfour (to name a few).
It greatly helps that most of the main cast members were actual teenagers when the movie went into production (the only two exceptions being Peter Facinelli and Seth Green). It's always a distraction when actors clearly in their mid-twenties to early-thirties play hip, young teenagers.
Credits
Cast: Jennifer Love Hewitt (Amanda Beckett), Ethan Embry (Preston), Lauren
Ambrose (Denise), Charlie Korsmo (William), Peter Facinelli (Mike Dexter), Seth
Green (Kenny), Jenna Elfman (The Angel),
Melissa Joan Hart (Yearbook Girl), Erik Pallandino (Cousin Ron), Jerry O’ Connell (Trip McNeely), Channon Roe
(Jock #1), Sean Patrick Thomas (Jock #2), Freddy Rodriguez (Jock #3), Michelle Brockhurst (Girl Whose Party It is),
Joey Michaely (X-Phile #1), Jay Paulson (X-Phile #2), Jaime Pressley
(Girlfriend #1), Tamala Jones (Girlfriend #2), Jennifer Lyons (Girlfriend #3), Branden Williams (Homeboy #1), Robert Jayne
(Homeboy #2), Chris Owen (Klepto Kid), Marisol Nichols (Groupie), Monica
McSwain (Groupie), Alexander Martin (Exchange Student), Clea DuVall (Jana),
Jason Segal (Watermelon Guy), Breckin
Meyer (Lead Singer), Donald Faison (Drummer), Johnny Zander (Guitar Player),
Alec Ledd (Bass Player), Nicole
Bilderback (Ready to Have Sex Girl), Leslie Grossman (Ready to Have Sex Girl’s
Friend), Victor Togunde (Reminiscing Guy), Selma Blair (Girl Mike Hits on #1),
Jennifer Praz (Girl Mike Hits on #2), Brian Klugman (Stoner), Meadow Sisto
(Hippie Girl), Eric Balfour (Hippie Guy), Sara Rue (Earth Girl).
Directors: Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan
Screenplay: Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan
Running Time: 100 min.
