‘Can’t Hardly Wait’ 4K UHD Blu-ray (review)

I used to really like this movie.

Now it’s a novelty remembrance to bygone times, cultural appropriation, casual homophobia, misogyny and unrequited love. Sometimes things don’t hold up.  Sometimes things, maybe, weren’t particularly good to begin with.

Let’s start with the good parts.

The B plot friendship turned bizarre hookup romance between Lauren Ambrose and Seth Green is maybe the only redeemable storyline in this film.

Lauren Ambrose, without question, is the most talented performer in this film. She’s had a solid career with a standout stretch in HBO’s Six Feet Under.

Seth Green has been a large contributor to pop culture for a long time. His role in The Italian Job remake is always good for some laughs. I think the film would have been a lot better if they had been the main characters. They have like 15 minutes of screen time together and good chemistry. This is important when you consider the screen time of the main characters.

This is sort of a romantic comedy, but the protagonists, Ethan Embry and Jennifer Love Hewitt, barely share any screen time together.

In a one hour forty minute movie they have maybe, 5 minutes together. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays the prom queen who is searching for her identity after being dumped by the super jock prom king right after graduation. Ethan Embry plays the heartsick artist who believes that love is driven by fate.

The other good part is simple. 90% of the people in this movie went on to have real careers.

Jason Segal, who has a tiny cameo, probably has the biggest career, but Donald Faison, Jamie Pressly, Selma Blair, Breckin Meyer, and numerous others show up throughout the film. If you are feeling nostalgic for this generation of actors, check out the credits and enjoy a rewatch. Don’t expect much out of the movie.

There’s even a Jenna Elfman sighting in a featured cameo that actually moves the plot forward at one point.

It’s bizarre to say a movie that isn’t particularly long tries to do too many things, but maybe this one did. The whole thing takes place at an out of hand graduation party and a little bit the next day. Maybe the message is that we all wear masks and taking risks and being vulnerable lead to deeper connections but quite frankly it’s lost in the chaos of cliché. It’s almost an homage to John Hughes but doesn’t really pull it off.

There are a couple of meta-references that are amusing. Jerry O’Connell shows up as a former senior coming back to relive old glories. His shirt identifies his fraternity as Delta Iota Kappa (DIK), which is a less than subtle reference to who he was in high school  and who Peter Facinelli is in his prom king, rule the school role.

Can’t Hardly Wait doesn’t really bring enough funny to qualify as a true comedy. Most of the real funny moments aren’t in the dialogue, but in visuals or ancillary plot devices. The school nerd (Charlie Korsmo) getting drunk and singing Paradise City in front of everyone is amusing. There is a running shoplifting, petty theft gag throughout the film that can bring a mild chuckle, especially as it escalates a little bit near the end of the film, but there’s really nothing in this movie to make you laugh out loud.  There’s also not much to make you cry or tug on your heartstrings.

Extras are plentiful and include alternate and deleted scenes, commentaries, cast reunion, featurettes, music video, and trailer,

In the end there isn’t much here. If you haven’t seen it, I wouldn’t spend the time at this point. If you have and are looking for some generational nostalgia it might have some value for you, but keep the couple of hours and find something better to watch.