MovieChat Forums > Can't Hardly Wait (1998) Discussion > Can't Hardly Wait's Legacy

Can't Hardly Wait's Legacy

posted 16 years ago by polkaboy13
35 replies | jump to latest

Why do you think a movie as awesome as this was mostly a theatric dud, and had no significant impact on pop culture? This movie should have been the "Sixteen Candles" of the late 90's, yet it seemed to get passed over. Sure, it has a small cultish fanbase, but it won't go down in pop culture history as one of the definitive teen movies of a generation. Or maybe I'm wrong; maybe I'm underestimating it's staying power. What do you guys think?

I'll tell you who it was. It was that darn Sasquatch!

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] KingAtor42 16 years ago

I think you hit a lot on the nose right there. I never looked at the movie in that fashion before.

*spoilers*

We find out that...
- Mike Dexter really is just a jerk with little to offer. He needs his male possy to feel empowered and when he's unpopular for even the shortest stint, he gets lonely,desperate, and moody.
- William Lichter may be an uber-nerd, but he's also a solid guy. Once he lets go we find out all of the girls like him.
- Kenny, a super-poser finally learns that just being himself is all he needs to be truly happy and the act and the clothes just make him look stupid.
- Then you've got Preston's friend (can't recall her name), who finally learns that she too can be happy if she's not so darned cynical and bitchy all of the time.

Aristophanes once wrote, roughly translated...

[–] LJStephens1980 16 years ago

This film, represented everything about High School for me. And I never got a date with the Queen (there were six of my year).

And there never was a party, like the one in this film.

Smirnoff- Double Black - Now and forever=One Damn fine Drink!

[–] fist22-1 16 years ago

I feel bad for you if you've never been to a house party. all our parties are a lot like these, even though all of them aren't as amazing some look better than the one in this movie. i think that for that reason i somehow realate to this movie because my highschool years are somewat similar.

MY EYES ARE OPEN.

[–] tellerofthetruth 16 years ago

High school house parties are the best! House parties now just cannot compare.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] CapMaster 15 years ago

I think by now this movie's legacy is well established, it goes hand and hand with American Pie when you bring up "Defining teen movies of the 90's." And for me, I wasn't even in high school when I saw this! This came out around the time I was graduating 8th grade/about to go into high school, so I guess you can say I related to this as I was going through the same phase, different time period.

[–] EmilyRoad 15 years ago

You're definitely right, and about the same age as me. I saw it with my older brother(who was about to be a senior in HS) a few days before i started my freshman year. I was fortunate to be in a school that sometimes felt like this. And although I didn't think I had awesome friends, I totally did. I can't help but remember the parties I went to that felt like this movie later on.

Nozz-a-la! the Drink of finer bumhugs everywhere!

[–] dkamberi25 15 years ago

For me its a classic that perfectly defines the late 90's which was also the time that I was a teenager (class of 2001). Can watch the movie over and over and it never gets old.

The best part a movie like this is finding new things every time you watch it. Like spotting Jason Siegel as the stoner guys friend and Trip McNeely rising up and letting one rip while talking with mike.

[–] jperez1107 14 years ago

I know! I recently re-watched it and I was stoked when I saw Jason Siegel!. Oh, and seeing how far Jamie Pressley has come. And let's not overlook the attention Peter Facinelli (Mike, Amanda's bf) has gotten recently for portraying Carlisle in the Twilight movies. I can't believe he's the same person!

[–] ShawnaC123 14 years ago

oh dang...I couldn't figure out why that Mike Dexter guy looked familiar but I thought it was just because he looked like someone else. He is totally Carlisle!

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Here's my signature.

[–] pokerkeith2k5 14 years ago

Sadly it is because it was rated pg-13. I think the core audience for this movie at the time was marked to 15 year olds but the movie was about high school graduates who had no idea what to do next in their lives.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Suriname86 13 years ago

I will say it was fun spotting all the familiar faces; it seemed like every other shot was a big star of the 90s.

[–] Screen_Queen 15 years ago

I just finished watching it and I loved it. It's definitely in my top ten teenage movies of all time list. It really deserves more exposure and merit that it got/gets! It's similar to The Girl Next Door in that they both redefined a genre. CHW should be the Sixteen Candles of the 90s like you said, and TGND should be the teenage movie of the noughties because I have not seen a better teenage film in either decade.

"Tool up, honey bunny. It's time to get bad guys."

[–] your_mothers_a_tracer 14 years ago

Redefined a genre? What?

I agree that this movie and "The Girl Next Door" are similar, but it's not for redefining anything.

I remember when this movie came out, I was a high school senior, and it was being marketed as the next Breakfast Club. Those are pretty lofty aspirations. I went to see it in theatres on opening day because of the Breakfast Club comparisons. I loved the movie. So did the friend I dragged with me. We liked it so much, that we went to IMDb to look up our favorite quotes that Monday. What it did, it took Hughes' basic premise of revealing the stereotypes as more than just that, but they also gave us something Hughes didn't. They gave us the day after and epilogues for each character.

The Girl Next Door also went and took the basic premise of "Risky Business" and spun it a little, and that's how it was marketed. I also really liked TGND, the plot went to some pretty unexpected places, and Olyphant plays psycho very well.

As much as I like these movies, though, I can't honestly say they redefined the teen genre. They took chances and made some promises, and dammit they delivered. I'd like to see some more movies take just the basic premise of other movies and make it their own instead of all these remakes we keep getting.

Fork was in the road, took the psychopath.

[–] mcgill_j 14 years ago

Actually.. I dug the HECK out of BOTH this AND The Girl Next Door.. and the analysis of it being a spin on Risky Business.. heck an ALMOST really remake.. instead of hooker she's in porn.. but anyway.. still.. props to Olyphant for that.

I do NOT see Breakfast Club when I see Can't Hardly Wait tho.. actually.. I'd give it more a.. more mainstream and comedic take on Lucas' American Grafitti. Embry's Preston? Similar to Richard Dreyfuss.. Mike Dexter? WAS the cool guy in High School.. although he hasn't faced it YET like John Milner.. and Kenny can be seen as the Terry "the toad" character.. and yes, the action carries on OVER a night.. and ends with a "coda" for each character in the film.

[–] PopularDemand 14 years ago

I didn't know this bombed at the theatres but it makes sense since I didn't see it till it came out as a rental and watched it with my friends after a long night of drinking and partying at a young age. We all passed out that night and woke up late the next day to talk bout what we remembered from the movie and had so many comparisons to our night before that we all wanted to watch it again together sober. We watched sober and still all laughed our ases off and talked bout how it was so much like our parties we had every week. Americana at its best! I hope every teen in the 90s can relate to this movie in some way...It means you had fun the best way you could at the time haha.

[–] layamaheshwari 14 years ago

I saw this movie just now. I don't care about its box-office grosses, but I loved it.

I live in India, and here the schooling system is much different from the american one (and not as good, IMHO). I by default love movies like these, because they view high-school with rose-tinted glasses.

I loved the conversations the characters had, the ones where they discusses their fears, aspirations, how they/someone else had changed over time etc. etc.

If anything, I would have preferred less focus on the party and more on these character-broadening scenes. I have the same complaint with American Pie (although I loved that movie too)

I am sucker for such type of movies... can anyone recommend any similar ones?

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world