"I can't get enough of you baby," were the words from the Smash Mouth song that played repeatedly throughout what is arguably the quintessential teen movie from the late '90s. Many would say that title belongs to "American Pie," but for me and a lot of people I knew, it was always all about "Can't Hardly Wait." The amount of quotable lines in that movie alone will keep it heavy in my movie rotation for ages. Also, the cast, filled with actors and actresses who entertained us then and continue to keep us glued to our seats even now, filled the scenes with background appearances and one line bits. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've watched that movie and said "Yooooo! That's the guy/girl from ___!"
It was the Summer of 1998. I was seventeen and getting ready to enter my senior year in high school when "Can't Hardly Wait" was released in theatres. I didn't care enough to see it right away, but I knew it was coming eventually. Based off the trailer the movie looked like it was going to be some cheesy chick flick where Ethan Embry goes after Jennifer Love Hewitt at a party. *Yawn* I would have much rather gone to see "The X-Files" or "Deep Impact." I wanted to see some aliens and things blowing up!
Working that Summer at a local Whataburger I didn't have the time to hit the movies as I usually did. The schedule that our Sith Lord boss had us under was incredibly tasking. While Godzilla, Armageddon and Saving Private Ryan were blowing up the box office, I was stuck behind the grill flipping burgers, cutting produce and making sure the bread racks stayed full. The only free moments I had I'd use to sneak behind the place and toke on a black & Mild, while keeping an eye on the order board. The only bit of hanging out I did was with co-workers with whom I already had to see 8 hours out of the day. My regular friends were starting to worry about me.
Then came the day when my regular friends kidnapped me and forced me to hit the movies with them. "I don't wanna see that shit!" I yelled into the receiver as "Craig" and "Mike" sat inside Craig's house plotting our evening. They just suggested "Can't Hardly Wait" for our viewing pleasure. "No!" I vehemently yelled again. Then they told me who else would be going. The girls they normall associated with had a friend...a very fine friend. Stephanie Flores. She was a girl that none of us had a chance in hell with, but just the notion that she'd be joining us was enough to get me to follow along.
What followed was a very interesting evening. I used my charm to make her crack up and whatnot, and it was all good. She had a boyfriend, but I wasn't trying to mess with her. The movie, however, was the best part. I really enjoyed the film. It was funny, heartwarming, clever and I dug the music. Who are we kidding? Jennifer Love Hewitt was so damn fine in that movie..oh lordy!
Years passed and I didn't even think about that movie again. It wasn't until a friend of mine popped it into his DVD player in 2003 on one of those rainy days when it was best to stay inside the dorms. It was amazing. Just watching the opening credits again took me back to that night in 1998. This disembodied monologue of the nervous guy asking the girl to the party while the music played and they showed exterior shots of the graduation hit me like a ton of bricks. Memories came flooding back. Sitting next to Ms. Flores and sharing popcorn while the movie rolled and some jackass kept kicking my seat behind me..you can't buy memories like that. Topping it all off with us getting kicked out of the parking garage for lingering. Nope, you won't find that on Ebay.
Since then "Can't Hardly Wait" has become one of those movies. A movie that you won't admit to anyone that you really love, yet secretly you watch it just to relive those memories again. You think about the times that you were at parties just like that one. And when you think about it you know that there were people just like those characters that you knew in high school.
Sad to say, but the one character I can relate to in that movie was Seth Green's character. Not the way he acted but the style of clothes he wore. Laugh all you want, but those clothes were in at the time. I remember styling my hair up similar to that, putting on my Lugz lime green shirt, sort of like the one he wore, and going to the mall to shop for more clothes just like that. I even had the same baggy pants. Sans goggles, though. Even then you'd never catch me wearing some goofy shit like that.
There were a lot of Amanda Becketts at our school. Most notably were the Pinto twins. To me, my Amanda Beckett was Tiffany Armstrong, a varsity cheerleader who was the epitome of sexy, classy and had a "make you melt and fall to your knees" voice.
And yes, there were even some Mike Dexters. Although I never suffered their wrath because I too was a jock. (playing baseball counts) Jock on jock violence was a no-no. Hey, even jocks have a code!
"Can't Hardly Wait" fuels me as a writer. Most of my retro musings come from watching that movie, it is my inspiration. Whenever I want to write about something like "Mario Kart 64" I go back to that film. Even though there were no games in it I still draw from it because that is where I have my youth stored. It is my fountain of "to be 17 again." Even my novel, Tales of a Misguided Urban Youth is based heavily on me watching "Can't Hardly Wait." It may be weird and unhealthy to most, but come on..."It's all about the memories, man!"
