Harry Alfont and Deborah Kaplan’s film Can’t Hardly Wait is a dramatic, attempted comedy about a high school’s last “hoorah” party. It’s plain, forgettable Preston Meyers’ (Ethan Embry) last chance to get the girl who got away, Amanda Beckett (Jennifer Love Hewitt), fun-loving prom queen. He continually fantasizes about the first time he met her—she was eating his favorite Pop Tart, and he let her slip away into cocky football player, Mike Dexter’s paws when he hesitated to give her a tour of the school. The plot unravels at a house party gone horribly wrong; students are drunk, having sex and ready to party. Amanda gains her independence, Preston pursues the girl of his dreams, along with an array of other occurrences that change the students’ lives forever.
In this scene, at 28:13, Preston’s friend Denise (Lauren Ambrose) has been dragged along to this party so Preston can drool over Amanda more and finally get the courage to talk to her. She is extremely uncomfortable in this situation, unfamiliar with the atmosphere at raging high school parties. Preston wanders off in search of Amanda and Denise is left alone, to find a ride home and fend for herself in an environment that could be compared to a riot—disastrous, destructive and unpredictable.
The awkward high angle shot emphasizes her relative insignificance at the party and creates a sense of aesthetic awkwardness in the scene. The wide angle lens makes the distance between her and the rest of the people at the party even greater. The sort of ring around her where people keep their distance signifies the personality gap between herself and the rest of the students at the party. This is not her idea of fun—and it shows, yet everyone else seems to be having a blast. The people on her right and left are enthralled in conversation with other people, completely unaware of Denise’s presence. Her minuteness is also depicted with her smallness in the frame. She looks feeble and meek in this medium shot. She fiddles with her hands and awkwardly fusses with her jacket. Lauren Ambrose’s acting really strengthens this role because she causes the audience to feel her awkwardness and discomfort with the situation.
Her clothing sets her apart as well. While everyone else is clothed in t-shirts and tank tops, Denise is wearing a slightly gothic looking holy shirt and an awkward faux leather jacket which she awkwardly takes off and puts back on, unable to decide which is better. The fact that she is placed right in the middle of the couch, right in the middle of the frame is perfect for this scene because it isolates her more and it emphasizes her in the screen. The ugly couch she is sitting on separates her from the rest of the party, creating a wall between her and any contact with the other partygoers. She is even enclosed by the two pillows facing towards her, as though blockades from even the people on the sides of her. The hideous lamp in the background also disconnects her from the rest of the party and just makes the scene just a little bit more off.
The light on Denise’s face illuminates her, as if everyone’s eyes are on her—including the audience’s—and increases the discomfort emitted. She draws in the viewer’s attention. The rest of the background is mostly all one dull droning color, yet with Denise illuminated by the orange light, it puts the spotlight on her. There is even a man in the top right corner that almost looks as though he’s saying, “What is she doing just sitting there? This is a party!”
Ironically I just noticed, this frame is almost symmetrical, with Denise right in the center, the couch right in the center, people on both sides of her, and a lamp with a model ship on the other side. I would think that this is implying this type of outcast feeling she has, is not completely foreign to her, as though it happens all the time. Also, I think it shows that she does not really desire to change herself in order to fit in—that she is balanced the way she is and I think if she did fit in, it would throw the balance of herself and the movie. That might be taking it a little too far, I’m not sure.
So, without seeing the movie, do you think that from this frame you would be able to pick up the fact that she is uncomfortable with being at this party? Secondly, do you think that the couch represents the divide between her and the party, and how would the story be different if that couch was not there?
