Can't Hardly Wait
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: June 12, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
8
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The filmmakers seem well in control of their chaotic material, but what can be said when the movie features wall-to-wall teenage alcohol abuse. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Can't Hardly Wait has freshness, comic invention and an engaging romantic spirit. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
[The soundtrack] manages to serve up new rock, eighties dance music, rap and Barry Manilow -- a combination custom-made to annoy audiences of all ages. Read full review
50
VarietyEmanuel Levy
A mediocre attempt to recapture the exuberance and candid portraiture of such high school movie classics as "American Graffiti," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Dazed and Confused." Read full review
50
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
Seeing gawky Charlie Korsmo, one-time movie moppet, as a superbrain whose introduction to alcohol leads him to do a rip-roaring rendition of Guns N' Roses' Paradise City, is worth a smile or two. But even that can't save [the] film. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsDave Kehr
Flunks the freshness test.
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Instead of bringing intriguing characters with real problems and interesting dialogue to the bash, Kaplan and Elfont take the lazy approach of pulling generic stereotypes off the shelf and throwing them into a formulaic plot that doesn't offer one genuine surprise or meaningful moment. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
The cast of mostly unknowns is agreeable if unnecessarily bland, not a Spicoli among them. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
It's not supposed to be a revelation--just a pleasant rendition of a teen-comedy trope Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubStephen Thompson
But the film deserves credit, both for its breezy pacing and its uncommon tendency to make its characters smarter and geekier than they might have been. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Nobody's going to give this one an Oscar, sure, but as far as the venerable teen sex comedy goes, this one actually makes it to third base. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's all cutely derivative, occasionally charming and very occasionally clever...but the movie's vague aspirations to being something more than disposable fluff never amount to anything. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The kind of movie that somehow succeeds in moving very, very slowly even while proceeding at a breakneck pace. It cuts quickly back and forth between nothing and nothing. Read full review
10
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
True to the film's name, there is one thing I couldn't hardly wait for, and that's the closing credits. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
[The writers/directors] show easygoing humor and the wisdom to borrow well. Their film at various times recalls tenderhearted coming-of-age comedies from "American Graffiti" onward, with strong homage to the works of Cameron Crowe, Amy Heckerling and John Hughes. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Agreeably mindless generation-next trash, but it leaves you hungry for a movie in which the characters are more than walking screenwriter index cards. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
For all its nonstop energy and high spirits, Can't Hardly Wait allows its characters to emerge as fully dimensional individuals; they've been written with care and perception and played with equal aplomb by a roster of talented young actors. Read full review
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