Can't Hardly Wait (1998)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Directors:

Harry Elfont
Deborah Kaplan

Writers (WGA):

Deborah Kaplan (written by) &
Harry Elfont (written by)

Release Date:

12 June 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

For the class of 1998, the last night of high school is the first night of the rest of their lives.

Plot:

Multicharacter teenage comedy about high school graduates with different agenda of life on graduation night.

Plot Keywords:

Party | High School | Graduation | Letter | Nerd

Awards:

2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 21	12:00 AM	MTV
Tue. July 21	8:00 AM	FX
Tue. July 21	7:00 PM	MTV

Cast

Jennifer Love Hewitt	...	Amanda
Ethan Embry	...	Preston
Charlie Korsmo	...	William
Lauren Ambrose	...	Denise
Peter Facinelli	...	Mike
Seth Green	...	Kenny
Michelle Brookhurst	...	Girl Whose Party It Is
Alexander Martin	...	Exchange Student
Erik Palladino	...	Cousin Ron
Channon Roe	...	Jock #1
Sean Patrick Thomas	...	Jock #2
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Jock #3 (as Freddy Rodriguez)
Joel Michaely	...	X-Phile #1
Jay Paulson	...	X-Phile #2
Brian Hall	...	Real Homeboy
Branden Williams	...	Homeboy #1
Robert Jayne	...	Homeboy #2 (as Bobby Jacoby)
Johnny Zander	...	Guitar Player
Donald Faison	...	Drummer
Alec Ledd	...	Bass Player (as Alaa Khaled)
Jaime Pressly	...	Girlfriend #1 (as Jamie Pressly)
Tamala Jones	...	Girlfriend #2
Jennifer Lyons	...	Girlfriend #3
Seth Peterson	...	Keg Guy
Angelo Vacco	...	Beer Drinker
Nick Paulos	...	Beer Drinker
Chris Owen	...	Klepto Kid
Vicellous Reon Shannon	...	Reddi Whip Kid (as Vicellous Shannon)
Victor Togunde	...	Reminiscing Guy
Monica McSwain	...	Groupie
Marisol Nichols	...	Groupie
Liz Stauber	...	Gossipy Girl
Nicole Bilderback	...	Ready to Have Sex Girl
Jason Segel	...	Watermelon Guy
Paige Moss	...	Ashley
Clea DuVall	...	Jana (as Clea Duvall)
Leslie Grossman	...	Ready to Have Sex's Friend
Ali MacLean	...	Language Lab Girl
Brian Klugman	...	Stoner Guy
Meadow Sisto	...	Hippie Girl
Eric Balfour	...	Hippie Guy
Selma Blair	...	Girl Mike Hits On #1
Jennifer Paz	...	Girl Mike Hits On #2
Sara Rue	...	Earth Girl
Nils Larsen	...	Skinny Guy
Steve Monroe	...	Headbanger
Eric Brice Scott	...	Hockey Guy
Christopher Wiehl	...	Horny Guy (as Chris Wiehl)
John Patrick White	...	Tassel Guy
Jamie Donnelly	...	Teacher
Reni Santoni	...	Cop
Rob Roy Fitzgerald	...	Cop
Corinne Reilly	...	Cop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Amber Benson	...	Stephanie, Stoned, Banana-holding Girl (scenes deleted)
Jennifer Elise Cox	...	Mary, Crying Drunk Girl (scenes deleted)
Summer Phoenix	...	Candy, Stoned Girl's Friend (scenes deleted)
Jenna Elfman	...	The Angel (uncredited)
Harry Elfont	...	Graduation Student (voice) (uncredited)
Alexandra Ella	...	Giggle Girl (uncredited)
Shannon Frank	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Melissa Joan Hart	...	Vicki, Yearbook Girl (uncredited)
Arden James	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Deborah Kaplan	...	Graduation Student (voice) (uncredited)
Breckin Meyer	...	Walter - Lovebürger Lead Singer (uncredited)
Jerry O'Connell	...	Trip McNeely (uncredited)
Mary Ann Schmidt	...	All Night Party Guest (uncredited)
Liv Tyler	...	Gum Girl (voice) (uncredited)
Tracy R. West	...	Sydney, Graduate Student (uncredited)
Scott Ryan Whinery	...	Graduate Student (uncredited)
Johnny Whitworth	...	Gum Boy (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Harry Elfont
Deborah Kaplan

Writing credits (WGA)
Deborah Kaplan		(written by) &
Harry Elfont		(written by)

Produced by
Richard Graves	....	associate producer
Karen Koch	....	co-producer
Betty Thomas	....	producer
Jenno Topping	....	producer

Original Music by
David Kitay

Cinematography by
Lloyd Ahern II		(director of photography) (as Lloyd Ahern)

Film Editing by
Michael Jablow

Casting by
Anne McCarthy
Mary Vernieu

Production Design by
Marcia Hinds		(as Marcia Hinds-Johnson)
Adam Short

Art Direction by
Bo Johnson

Set Decoration by
Jan K. Bergstrom		(as Jan Bergstrom)

Costume Design by
Mark Bridges

Makeup Department
John Damiani	....	key makeup artist
Frances Mathias	....	hair stylist
Voni Hinkle	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Kerry Mendenhall	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)
Shari Perry	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)
Wendy Robin	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Karen Koch	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Ascher	....	second second assistant director (as David L. Ascher)
Richard Graves	....	first assistant director
Susan J. Hellmann	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Craig B. Ayers Sr.	....	greensman
Russell Bobbitt	....	property master
Tracy Bobbitt	....	assistant props (as Tracy M. Bobbitt)
Bryan D. Garofalo	....	assistant property master
Joseph P. Lucky	....	set designer
Jeff Passanante	....	construction coordinator
Eric Sundahl	....	set designer
Donald B. Woodruff	....	set designer
Thomas E. Brown	....	paint supervisor (uncredited)
Michael Casey	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Daren Dochterman	....	illustrator (uncredited)
Jim Gmuer	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Tim R. Lafferty	....	construction foreman (uncredited)
Scott MacLachlan	....	property maker (uncredited)
Todd Morris	....	on-set dresser (uncredited)
Jodi Tripi	....	art department coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
John H. Arrufat	....	dialogue editor (as J.H. Arrufat)
Raul A. Bruce	....	boom operator
David B. Cohn	....	supervising adr editor
David M. Cowan	....	dialogue editor
Ali Derakhshan	....	assistant sound editor
Nerses Gezalyan	....	foley mixer (as Nerses Auguste Gezalyan)
Gary A. Hecker	....	foley artist (as Gary Hecker)
Drake Jenevein	....	assistant sound editor
Roxanne Jones	....	supervising sound editor
David Kirschner	....	production sound mixer
Mark Lanza	....	sound effects editor (as Mark A. Lanza)
Patricio A. Libenson	....	foley editor (as Patricio Libenson)
Steve Pederson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Perry	....	sound re-recording mixer
Diana J. Rogers	....	apprentice sound editor
Steven Ticknor	....	sound effects editor
Scott A. Tinsley	....	foley editor (as Scot Tinsely)
David F. Van Slyke	....	sound effects editor
Jeffrey Wilhoit	....	foley artist (as Jeff Wilhoit)
David Williams	....	dialogue editor
Matt Colleran	....	dubbing recordist (uncredited)
Lisa Varetakis	....	sound editor (TV version) (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Lou Carlucci	....	special effects

Stunts
Clay Boss	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Carl Boles	....	chief lighting technician
Mike Bonnaud	....	assistant chief lighting technician (as Michael Bonnaud)
Anthony R. Collier	....	second grip
Mark W. Elias	....	key grip
Joe Kraft	....	dolly grip
Mark La Bonge	....	camera operator (as Mark LaBonge)
Todd McMullen	....	first assistant camera
Darren Michaels	....	unit still photographer
Sean J. O'Shea	....	second assistant camera (as Sean O'Shea)
Pasquale Attanasio	....	grip: re-shoot (uncredited)
Michael Cassidy	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Luis Moreno	....	lighting technician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Leigh French	....	voice casting
Judy Cook	....	extras casting (uncredited)
Joseph Hicks	....	extras casting (uncredited)
Freddy Luis	....	casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eden Clark Coblenz	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Eden C. Coblenz)
Shari Gray	....	costumer
Lisa Halperin	....	set costumer
Damien Quinn	....	costumer
Lori Jean Sacks	....	costumer (as Lori Sacks)

Editorial Department
Linda DeMarco	....	color timer (as Linda Demarco)
Heather Mullen	....	first assistant editor
Jud Nealon	....	assistant editor
Eric Wiler	....	assistant editor
Dale Jones	....	avid technician (uncredited)
Eric Rigney	....	avid technician (uncredited)

Music Department
Tim Boyle	....	score mixer
Stuart Grusin	....	music editor
Carlton Kaller	....	music editor
Suzan Mann	....	music clearance
Ralph Sall	....	executive music producer
Pete Anthony	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Brian Benison	....	music preparation (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Jon Carpenter	....	transportation captain
Shane Greedy	....	transportation co-captain
J. Armin Garza II	....	driver: camera car (uncredited)

Other crew
Jason Behrman	....	assistant: Ms. Thomas
Jeff Bilger	....	production assistant
Benita Brazier	....	script supervisor
Patricia L. DeShields	....	production accountant (as Patsy Deshields)
John Falvey	....	assistant: Ms. Koch
Stephen Fischer	....	location manager
Mary Holliday	....	production assistant
Lis Peery	....	assistant: Ms. Topping
Michael Peters	....	assistant: Ms. Kaplan and Mr. Elfont
Claire Raskind	....	unit publicist (as Claire Raskind Cooper)
Lisa Schafer	....	assistant: Ms. Thomas
John Starr	....	craft service
Louise Tolan	....	production assistant
Christine White	....	production coordinator
Melissa Elliott	....	title designer (uncredited)
Paul Guyot	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Dominique Jaramillo	....	production medic (uncredited)
Chris Miller	....	technical services (uncredited)
Jeffrey D. Stevens	....	key medic (uncredited)
Wayne Witherspoon	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (presents) (as Columbia Pictures)
• Tall Trees Productions (as A Tall Trees Production)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1998) (USA) (theatrical)
• WB Television Network, The (2002) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Columbia TriStar Films (France)
• Columbia TriStar Films de España
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (1999) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (1999) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

Special Effects

• D. Rez Hollywood (digital effects)
• FractalVision (fractal animation courtesy of) (as FractalVision Oak Park, California)

Other Companies

• American Humane Association, The  animal action monitoring (as The American Humane Association)
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Cinema Research  titles and opticals
• Elektra Records  soundtrack
• Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Company Medien KG  author of this film (motion picture) for the purpose of copyright and other laws (as Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Co. Film KG)
• Santa Clarita Studios  special thanks
• Sony Pictures Studios  sound editorial services
• Todd-AO Studios (West)  mixed and re-recorded at
• Trailer Park  main titles design

Also Known As:

The Party (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for teen drinking and sexuality, and for language.

Runtime:

100 min | Argentina:101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (as Sony Dynamic Digital Sound)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:14A | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35793)

Filming Locations:

Dutton's Bookstore - 11975 San Vicente Boulevard, Reseda, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Filming the final scenes of the party meant a chaotic destruction of the house. Directors Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont gave the go-ahead to completely trash the place. This involved the cast and crew pulling out drawers, dropping food all over the floor, messing up the carpets, and someone spray painting "This Party Sucked" on the front door. This all happened in one hour. The yearbook that Melissa Joan Hart uses in the movie is from a Philadelphia-area high school named Plymouth-Whitemarsh. The students' pages shown in the movie are really the teachers' pages in the actual yearbook.

Goofs:

Continuity: When William goes into the house and gets a beer, he takes a sip from a half full glass and spits it out. Almost immediately after, he takes another sip, and the cup is almost full.

Quotes:

Cop: Lichter? William Lichter? Let's go. Your parents are here to take you home.
William: [drunk] Oh... no. Oh... my parents? They're here? They must be so mad at me! Have you seen my father? Does he have a weapon of some kind?
Cop: Afraid not. Actually, they're more worried about you than anything else. You know, it's not your fault that...
[reads from a clipboard in a very sarcastic tone]
Cop: Mike Dexter beat you up and forced you to drink alcohol until you passed out.
William: Wh-what?
Cop: That's the statement we got from the Dexter kid. He made you drink, took your chothes off.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Rush Hour (1998)

Soundtrack:

Groove Is In The Heart

Much much better than Never Been Kissed

I am a product of the 80's slasher film and the teenage film generation. Films in the 80's like Fast Times, Wild Life, Revenge of the Nerds and Ferris Bueller's Day Off and such, were films that may not have been classics to the critics, but to a fifteen year old boy, they were our Citizen Kane. They taught us how to pick up women, how to attempt to have sex, how to skip school and why to skip school. They taught us that parents and adults really don't understand us and that kids really aren't that bad, we just want to have a bit of fun before life gets too serious. We have all been through emotions and experiences like the ones that those movies preach about, so it is easy for us to relate to what those films are trying to say. And it makes it that much more fun to relive those experiences ten years later. Can't Hardly Wait is the closest to an 80's teen film that I have seen in quite some time. Compared to films like the aforementioned Never Been Kissed and even She's All That, this movie is a classic.

The film was written and directed by Harry Elfont and Debra Kaplan, and if they are not about my age ( late 20's ) they certainly are lovers of 80's teen films, because it shows here that they did their homework. Some of the scenes in this film are complete homages to great 80's films like Sixteen Candles ( the two geeks on the roof ) Wild Life ( a huge party where some of the characters grow up and learn a bit about themselves and each other) and even Say Anything ( a not so popular guy in love with the school hotty.) It seems to me that Harry and Debra are lovers of the films that made growing up in the eighties so much fun.

The story is about a party on the day of the completion of exams. Here we meet all the major players in the film. And yes, they are all contrived, but that is what a film like this is about. They were not trying to re-invent the wheel here, they were trying to stick to a formula that made so many movies work. You have Amanda Beckett ( Hewitt ), the prom queen that just got broken up with by the star jock named Mike Dexter ( played with so much zeal by Peter Facinelli, look for him to have a future in Hollywood ). Then you have Preston ( Ethan Embry ) who is not necessarily a geek but he is far from a popular jock, think of Dawson. Anyway, he has loved Amanda for all of highschool and now he is finally getting the guts to tell her of his undying passion for her. You also have William Lichter, who is the school geek that comes of age in the party. He does all the things that you would expect a typically written geek in a film to do--- get drunk, have a public display of wildness that gets people to see him in a new light, and of course, in here it is his karaoking to Paradise City ( which is one of the film's funnier scenes ) and of course get laid. As I said, this movie sticks to a very popular formula. Don't look for a film like this to say new and something profound about today's youth. This movie is here to entertain and that is it. And it does that well.

Also you have Kenny Fischer ( Seth Green ) as a very white guy who thinks he is black to cover up his insecurities, and his friend from public school named Denise. Needless to say many issues are going to be raised at the party and some of them are hilarious.

A great cameo is turned in by Jerry O'Connell who plays Trip McNeely ( the ultimate jock name ). He was idolized by all the cool kids when he went to their high school. Now he is in university and according to him , in a converstion with Mike Dexter, he tells him that " guys like me and you bro are a dime a dozen. Chicks are a lot different in college. They care about the environment and things and they all date guys that are in pre-med. " It is a very funny scene.

What makes this movie so much fun to watch is that it is reminiscent of an 80's film. And that is the highest compliment that I can give it. Because, just like they don't know how to make movies like Halloween and Nightmare On Elm Street anymore, they sure as hell don't know how to make films like Breakfast Club, The Sure Thing and Secret Admirer. But this film comes really close to being like those. And if you remember those ones as films that were some of your favorites when you were sixteen, see this, it will make you laugh and entertain you, and that is an accomplishment on its own.