Kaplan and Elfont provide a real public service by showing how underage binge drinking can boost bookish students' social lives.

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.

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.

Can't Hardly Wait is the typical fare for 1990s teen movies and it is entertaining without going too far overboard.