Teens Will Enjoy the 'Wait' By Jane Horwitz Special to The Washington Post Friday, June 5, 1998

Also Playing Okay for Tots on Up "Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie" (G). Barney and pals chase magic egg in well-made whimsical tale. Kids 2-6 can sing along sometimes, only worry when egg nearly falls. Okay for 6 and Up "Quest for Camelot" (G). Spunky teen girl saves King Arthur from villainous knight in entertaining, jokey animated musical that gives the legend a feminist twist. Funny two-headed dragon, scary fire-breathing one, giant ogre, sword battles may scare tots. Okay for 10 and Up "The Truman Show" (PG). Profoundly clever falbe features Jim Carrey as unwitting star of TV soap who finds he's been surrounded by fakery all his life. Mild profanity; flashbacks of boy losing dad in sailing accident. "Almost Heroes" (PG-13). The late Chris Farley and Matthew Perry as dim duo out to beat Lewis and Clark in dismal period farce. Binge drinking, poop jokes, rare profanity, semi-nudity, sexual innuendo, homophobic gags. "Godzilla" (PG-13). Mega-lizard takes Manhattan in uninspired but amusing udpdate of '54 classic. Less violent than "Jurassic Park" flicks; rare mild sexual innuendo, profanity. PG-13 and Why "Hope Floats." Young mother leaves cheatin' husband in bland comedy-drama. Rare profanity; mild love scenes, sexual innuendo; themes of divorce, depression, death. Okay for most 10-12s. R's – Arty'N'Ordinary "A Perfect Murder" Husband hires his wife's lover to kill her in chic but tepid thriller. Bloody stabbings, gunplay; strong profanity; steamy but non-explicit sexual situations. High schoolers. "The Last Days of Disco" Dead-on portrait of '80s Manhattan club scene. Cocaine, booze; discussion of sexuality, venereal disease, nudity, muted sexual situations; rare profanity. Mature high schoolers. "I Got the Hook Up." Crude comedy about con artists in the 'hood. Nonstop profanity, sexual innuendo; comic gun violence; toilet humor, homophobic, woman-hating jokes; marijuana, liquor. Older high-schoolers – preferably none. – Jane Horwitz

"Can't Hardly Wait" (PG)
In this semi-raucous teen comedy, suburban high school seniors at a huge bash the night after graduation are confronted with the lies and self-delusion they've lived with for years. Most teens will enjoy the film's naughty-but-nice tone, which includes only a few constructive "messages" between the high jinks. The movie nearly reaches R status with its suggestive dancing, steamy make-out moments and a strongly implied sexual encounter. Characters drink large amounts of beer and hard liquor, appear stoned, swear and use much sexual innuendo and one racial slur. A boy shoplifts.

All the main characters are white: Amanda (Jennifer Love Hewitt), the gorgeous cheerleader, who's just been dumped by the jock (Peter Facinelli) and realizes she has no sense of herself without a guy; the brainy but shy guy (Ethan Embry) who loves her but hasn't had the nerve to tell her; the science nerd (Charlie Korsmo) who plans a comeuppance for that bullying jock; and the geeky kid (Seth Green) who tries to dress and talk like a stereotypical hip-hopper and fails miserably. "Can't Hardly Wait" isn't as riotous as the genre-launching "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (R, 1982), but it will amuse.

"Beyond Silence" (PG-13)
This delicately told – and only occasionally saccharine – story from Germany might make an excellent first foreign film for teens. In it, the hearing child of a deaf couple grows apart from her loving parents because she can't share her talent and her love of music with them. The mild rating reflects one understated sexual situation and brief non-sexual nudity. The English subtitles translate both the German and the sign language. We first meet Lara at age 8, already an interpreter between her parents and the hearing world. She's no saint, mind you; she deliberately mistranslates teachers' complaints about her schoolwork. A musical aunt gives Lara a clarinet and insists on cultivating her talent without consulting Lara's parents, most particularly her strong-willed father (respected deaf American actor Howie Seago). The film then cuts to Lara as a young woman, still trying to break free without creating a rift. The sensitive portrayal of the family's tug of war and Lara's love of music make for an earnest, absorbing film.

"The Hanging Garden" (R)
A complex, dreamlike tale about a man who goes home to his messed-up family in Nova Scotia for a wedding, "The Hanging Garden" may strike a chord with thoughtful older high schoolers looking for edgier independent fare. A well-earned R, it includes explicit sex scenes with gay themes, intense moments of verbal abuse and beatings by a drunken parent, a suicide, heavy drinking, marijuana use, smoking, profanity and humor aimed at Roman Catholics.

The visiting brother experiences vivid flashbacks – Proustian memories of pivotal experiences in the family's lush garden and nursery. He sees his overweight teen self discover his homosexuality in an explicit scene with another boy, inspiring his father to beat him, and his mother to take him to a prostitute to be "cured." More arty, obscure and lurid than necessary, "The Hanging Garden" still delivers a dramatic payoff. Writer-director Thom Fitzgerald shows a feel for childhood woes and how they can linger.