Synopsis

On the night of their high school graduation, a group of seniors converges at a lavish house party where old rivalries, secret crushes, personal insecurities, and hopes for the future collide. Preston plans to finally confess his feelings to Amanda, while the night's chaos gives several classmates unexpected chances to shed their school reputations before everyone goes their separate ways.

Factoids & Trivia

• The filmmakers originally conceived the project as a low-budget movie set entirely at one party. The idea was influenced by John Hughes teen movies and the party sequence in Say Anything....

• The film was originally titled The Party, but Columbia Pictures wanted to keep that title available in case it remade the Peter Sellers comedy of the same name.

• Principal photography lasted 26 days. The party house exteriors were filmed in Altadena, California, while the interiors were shot on a soundstage.

• The scene in which two characters become trapped in a bathroom was based on a real incident at Deborah Kaplan's house. During a party, a guest became locked inside while everyone else was asleep or too intoxicated to hear her.

• The script originally used Van Halen's "Panama" for William's big rock performance, but the production could not secure the rights. "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses was used instead.

• The movie initially received an R rating because of its depiction of underage drinking and drug use. It was recut and ultimately released with a PG-13 rating.

• Jason Segel made his film debut in a small role as the watermelon seller. The filmmakers remembered his audition and created the part after deciding there was no larger role that suited him.

• The soundtrack album was released by Elektra Records on May 26, 1998, and reached No. 25 on the Billboard 200. The film's title comes from The Replacements song "Can't Hardly Wait," which plays over the closing credits.

• The film was not a major box-office success on release, but its home-video life and continued audience interest helped it develop a cult reputation as a defining late-1990s teen movie.