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It should have been the Scream of teen comedies -- a smart, self-aware reinvention of an underappreciated cinematic genre. Instead, Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan's CAN'T HARDLY WAIT (1998, Columbia TriStar, PG-13, $104.99), like Sixteen Candles and Say Anything...before it, is a charming farce that underperformed in theaters but should attain cult status on video. That Thing You Do!'s amiable Ethan Embry stars as a shy aspiring writer who decides to declare his love for his dream girl (Jennifer Love Hewitt, oddly adopting Party of Five costar Neve Campbell's mannerisms) at a wild high school graduation party. Meanwhile, his platonic pal (sardonic, adorable Lauren Ambrose, a kind of junior Janeane Garofalo) hooks up with a homeboy wannabe (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's hugely funny Seth Green). The film's only false notes are heard on its inexplicably dated soundtrack; it's doubtful the class of '98's party tapes include Tone Loc's ''Funky Cold Medina.'' B+


Posted Nov 20, 1998
 

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