History Film / CantHardlyWait

* CollegeIsHighSchoolPartTwo: Averted. Trip [=McNeely=] tells Mike that college women aren't the easy pickings that high school girls are and that they all have causes and prefer older guys. He's clearly unhappy with his life at this point and warns Mike not to make the same mistakes he did. Mike fails to heed this warning and becomes a JadedWashout as a result.

* DramaticThunder: Used to Introduce Mike Dexter to show Preston has missed his chance with Amanda.

* Dramatic Thunder: Used to Introduce Mike Dexter to show Preston has missed his chance with Amanda.

* FlowersforAlgernonSyndrome: All of Mike's character development is undone by the end.

* ShoutOut: The title is taken Music/TheReplacements' song of the same name.

-->-- '''Angel Stripper (Jenna Elfman)'''.

** [[Series/{{Sliders}} Jerry O'Connell]] as Trip [=McNeely=], a Huntington graduate and hero of Mike's.

[[DoggedNiceGuy Preston]] has been in love with [[LovableAlphaBitch Amanda]] since the first day of high school. When Amanda is dumped by her football player boyfriend [[JerkJock Mike]] shortly before graduation, Preston decides to attend [[WildTeenParty a big graduation party everyone's going to]] and declare his feelings for Amanda. Despite her reservations about Preston's plan, his best friend [[TheSnarkKnight Denise]] comes to the party with him. Also in attendance at the party are Mike, and [[{{Nerd}} William]], who has been bullied by Mike all through high school and is at the party to take final revenge on him. Denise's childhood friend [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy Kenny]] is also there, hoping to [[AManIsNotAVirgin lose his virginity]] before he goes to college.

** [[{{Sliders}} Jerry O'Connell]] as Trip [=McNeely=], a Huntington graduate and hero of Mike's.

[[caption-width-right:300:Yesterday's [[TeenDrama history.]] Tomorrow's [[GrowingUpSucks the future.]] Tonight's [[WildTeenParty the party!]]]]

->''"...The point is I totally realized that, you know? [[Main/FateAndProphecyTropes Fate]]. There is fate. But it only takes you so far, because once you're there, [[SelfFulfillingProphecy it's up to you]] to make it happen.."''

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: When Preston finally manages to face Amanda and tell her how he feels, Amanda [[spoiler: shuts him down with a BreakingSpeech, assuming that he's not any different from the other guys at the party who have propositioned her.]]

** It's later explained that it's in honor of Barry Manilow's birthday, and that that radio station plays "Mandy" every hour on the hour

** Mike [[spoiler:went to college on a football scholarship... which he lost after his drinking got in the way of his performance. He then turned into a JadedWashout, overweight and getting fired from his job at the car wash after some photos from the party surfaced.]]

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Every time Chris Owen's character appears on screen, he is stealing something, starting off relatively sanely with bags of chips at the shop and culminating with a ''police car''.

* DawsonCasting: Averted with Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry, Lauren Ambrose, and Charlie Korsmo, who were all in their late teens during filming. Played straight with Peter Facinelli and Seth Green, who were in their early twenties.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: ''Series/TheXFiles''? {{Brad|Pitt}} and Gwyneth? {{Pay phone}}s? Yep, it's TheNineties. The special edition DVD even has a '90s trivia game to {{lampshade|Hanging}} this fact.

Basically a [[TheNineties 90s]] version of the classic teen comedies of the [[TheEighties 1980s]].

** [[DharmaAndGreg Jenna Elfman]] as a stripper dressed as an angel who gives Preston advice.

* MalaProper: