DVD REVIEW: CAN'T HARDLY WAIT 10 YEAR REUNION EDITION (1998)

Back in the 80’s, the multiplexes were crowded with teen films. John Hughes based his whole career around them.

As Hughes retired, the genre died out. There were attempts to revive it in the early 90’s, but not much happened.

In 1998, a film came out that I would argue is the best of the decade’s genre films, CAN’T HARDLY WAIT.

When it was released, I was in my twenties and had outgrown the genre. I only went to see it since I had just written a screenplay about an all night party, and the trailers made it seem very similar.

WAIT had several characters coming together at a big graduation party. Preston (Ethan Embry) wants to proclaim his love for the most beautiful girl in school, Amanda (Jennifer Love Hewitt) who has just broken up with her jock boyfriend (Peter Facinelli). School geek (Charlie Korsmo) wants to destroy the jock for years of mistreatment. And Seth Green wants to find a woman, any woman, and winds up getting locked in a bathroom with Lauren Ambrose.

The story was perfect in that, it sets them up with their quest, lets them go, and we watch the results. The dialogue throughout is very well written. Some of the smartest and funniest of the 90’s.

The film was written and directed by the team of Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, their first film as directors. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was already a big fan of theirs. They had written A VERY BRADY SEQUEL which I have often called the smartest (as far as knowledge of the source material) TV adaptation of all time. Watching BRADY in the theatre, I was laughing so hard at some of the obscure Brady references that I really felt that I should stand up and explain it to the audience, who was missing out. When I realized they were responsible for both films, they joined my “Must See Anything They Do” list. (And I will defend their next feature 2001’s JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS any time that it is necessary, one of the few great satires.)

Due to its frequent cable airings, CAN’T HARDLY WAIT has become something of a classic of its genre. So much that it has just been released in a 10th anniversary edition.

This DVD has a new reunion audio commentary with the directors and stars Seth Green, Peter Facinelli, Donald Faison and others. This is a very entertaining track as the cast members point out all the future stars who appear in the film (future Emmy winner Jaime Pressly, Freddy Rodriguez, Clea DuVall, Selma Blair, Sara Rue and even a guy named Jason Segal of FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL). For those that haven’t gone on to stardom, cast member Joel Michaely does a sort of “What Ever Happened To” recap of their career (I should get him to contribute to this site). Who would have guessed that Charlie Korsmo is now working for the Department of Defense!

The DVD also includes the audio commentary from the first release, one of the funniest I have heard where Seth Green does half of it with a British accent for no reason.

There are several deleted scenes, new to this release. Surprisingly one scene, involving Segal with a vodka filled watermelon (that was part of the original theatrical trailer) is not included. Neither is that original trailer. But there are two music videos, including Smash Mouth's "Cant Get Enough Of You Baby"

There are three featurettes, running close to an hour, about the making of the film and what the actors are doing ten years later. Jennifer Love Hewitt is not interviewed, neither is Lauren Ambrose. But most of the others appear.

I’ve often wondered why Ethan Embry didn’t become a big star from this. Since VEGAS VACATION, where he played Rusty, I thought he was a great comic actor. Yet, while he is still acting, he hasn’t had the career he should have.

While films are often rereleased in anniversary editions just for marketing purposes, this one is worth an upgrade. The extras are all fun. I’m not one to really care all that much for extras, as the film is the most important thing. I have hundreds of DVDs where I have yet to see any of the extras. Here, I went through this DVD in one sitting, watching everything on it.

It is worth picking up.