The main story follows Preston Meyers (Ethan Embry), who decides to finally tell the girl of his dreams, Amanda (Jennifer Lover Hewitt), his true feelings after she breaks up with her high school sweetheart, Mike (Peter Facinelli). The downside to the main plot is that it mostly focuses on Preston rather than Amanda. Though she is a big part of the movie, most of her screen time is spent worrying if she has an identity beyond "Mike's Girlfriend". Except for the end, most of their interactions are limited to Preston staring at her from across the room or other awkward moments.
The better plot involves Preston's friend, Denise (Lauren Ambrose), who he drags to the party against her will. She eventually runs into Kenny (Seth Green) and the two former friends have a reunion of sorts. The interaction between the two creates some of the movie's best moments, and Seth Green is great as a wannabe rapper.
Another reoccurring subplot follows William (Charlie Korsmo) and his plot to get revenge on Mike for all the grief he caused him during high school.
The additional extras include two commentary tracks, one from the original DVD release and a special "10 Years Later" track. Of all the extras, the commentary was easily my favorite, only because it was neat to listen to how much (or little) perspectives have changed over the last decade. Another fun extra is the "You Know You're 90's if..." game, though I could be a little biased towards the feature since I really like random trivia.
Other extras include a reunion retrospective and a "Making of..." featurette, which share a lot of similarities. Finally, there's a look back on the teen party genre and a Smash Mouth video, which I really could have done without.
Similar to Bring it On or most teen movies, Can't Hardly Wait is a great "guilty pleasure" movie. It may be something you hide in the back of your DVD collection, but when it comes out to play, you'll have a blast. If you don't own it already, consider the purchase.
