It's graduation day at Huntington Hills High, and you know what that means - time to party. And not just any party, either. This one will be a night to remember, as the nerds become studs, the jocks are humiliated, and freshman crushes blossom into grown-up romance.
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.
– Stephen Thompson,
AV Club,
19 Mar 2014
rotten:
The majority of the film is mired in magazine cliches and tired gags. Oh, look, the foreign exchange student only knows how to say he's a sex machine, haw! And the nerd's getting drunk! Hoo!
– Melanie McFarland,
Seattle Times,
19 Mar 2014
rotten:
There are signs that Can't Hardly Wait once had more serious aspirations... But in the final edit, at least, it's the dumb, broad slapstick that prevails, short-circuiting identification with the characters before it can begin.
– Dave Kehr,
New York Daily News,
19 Mar 2014
fresh:
Fortunately, some of the appealing young performers -- who include Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose and, especially, Seth Green -- manage to emerge from the film's generic suburban-teen backdrop.
– Carrie Rickey,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
19 Mar 2014
rotten:
Kaplan and Elfont provide a real public service by showing how underage binge drinking can boost bookish students' social lives.